


I will never have to go back (to the day before you)

by Lyndsayluhu



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Drama, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-04
Updated: 2016-07-04
Packaged: 2018-07-21 13:36:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 25,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7389106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyndsayluhu/pseuds/Lyndsayluhu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Boy meets girl, boy and girl fall madly in love, boy gets shipwrecked, girl moves on, boy comes home. AU. Mention of shipwreck mention of the arrow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. chapter 1

When he met her in high school he knew there was something about her and he knew he needed to know her. He knew that one day she would be his whole world. He was happy when he found out her name, and what grade she was in. 11th, she was 2 years younger than everyone else in the grade because she was a genius. She was a new transfer to the school and he learned she was from Las Vegas. When he saw that she hung out Sara Lance, he knew how to meet her.

Oliver was best friends with Tommy Merlyn and Tommy was dating Laurel Lance, Sara's older sister. So he thought if he started hanging around them, asking Laurel to invite Sara to stuff she would bring Felicity. And he was right. Everywhere Sara was, there was Felicity. Every slumber party they crashed that the girls had, she was there. They had even started hanging out on their own, away from the group. He knew he shouldn’t make a move on her because she was young. But what he did know is that as soon as they graduated that he wanted the rest of his life to start with her. 

During the summer between 11th and 12th grade, Felicity started to change. Her brown mousy hair was now blonde, she traded her glasses in for contacts, but only sometimes and she started wearing tighter clothing. She also started going to parties with Sara and Laurel. Started hanging out more with Tommy, and Sara's new friend Nyssa.

They had gone to a party one Saturday night and she met Caitlyn and her best friend Iris. The girls hit it off right away and all started hanging out every Saturday night. One weekend it was at the Lance's, the next weekend it was Caitlyn's, the following was iris' and the final weekend was always reserved for her and Thea's sleepovers at the Queen mansion. Felicity and Thea and become as close as sisters ever since she had started hanging out with Oliver earlier that year.

Thea was 8 years younger than felicity but she didn't care. She was happy doing girly things and being there for Thea when she needed her. Felicity was an only child so in a way she felt like Thea was her long lost sister. Seeing as how Oliver was 10 years older than his little sister she was left out of a lot events and hang out sessions, that is why Felicity decided to have her own weekends with the youngest Queen. After the summer Saturday nights with Thea turned into another girl’s sleepover night with the Lance sisters, Nyssa, Caitlyn and iris. Thea would get so excited when it came to the day of the month for sleepovers with her friends. Especially Lis.

Oliver wanting to be close to felicity would try to crash girl’s night and steal felicity away from everyone, but as soon as we would see his sister laughing with her, or having her hair braided by Lis, as Thea called her, he couldn't stand to take her away from that. He would always just sit there and imagine that one day they would become real sisters and would be doing that in the home he one day hoped to share with felicity. 

When graduation came around felicity had graduated 6 months before everyone else by doing AP courses and extra courses in the evenings. Because of that she gotten into MIT with full scholarship. Oliver on the other hand, was quite upset with the thought of graduating without her, without having pictures of them on what should be the start of their adult lives. When his name was called to go up on stage and accept his diploma he looked into the crowd where Moira, Robert and Thea were sitting. Then he saw her. 

Sitting right next to his sister, Felicity was there clapping as hard she could and jumping for joy. He knew that was the night he was going to tell her he loved her. 

His parents and flown her in for the weekend so she could watch her friends graduate so she wouldn't miss such a milestone in their lives. She was able to take pictures with everyone before being taken out to dinner with the Queens. During dinner Oliver couldn't take his eyes off of her. He knew that tonight was the night he would tell her. There was no turning back. When he got up to ask Felicity if she wanted to get out that stuffy dinner he heard his mother ask her a question. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Moira, was asking felicity about her new boyfriend Cooper. Oliver excused himself from the table and headed towards the restroom. As soon as the door closed behind him he couldn't hold it in much longer. His heart sank to the bottom of chest and he felt like he couldn't breath. Why the hell did he wait till graduation to do anything about this. He couldn't believe he had lost her. 

When she came home for break that summer, a few weeks after Oliver’s graduation, she had broken up with cooper and just wanted her girl friends and really badly wanted to hang out with Oliver. The queens had always opened their home to her to stay whenever and however long she wanted. She was in the middle of telling Raisa and Thea that she and cooper had broken up when Oliver walked into the kitchen. He didn't know she was back already. 

As soon as he had seen her he scooped her up in his arms and spun her around, planted a kiss on her forehead and told her he had missed her. Thea's voice broke the moment he was having and told him they were just talking about Cooper, then he let her go and walked away.

Felicity was taken aback by what he had just done. She had told him they broke up; he never did email her back but she assumed he was just off with tommy having fun at Yale. She excused herself from Raisa and Thea and followed after him. She followed after him to the garden where he was sitting on the bench overlooking the vegetable garden that Raisa had planted that spring. She noticed he looked defeated. 

She sat down beside him, he kept looking away from her. She could tell he was upset. She knew because he was her best friend. She loved him, though she knew she was her best friend, aside from Tommy obviously, she knew he loved her too. Just not in the same way. Why would Oliver Queen, rich, handsome, can have any woman he wants be in love with her? He wouldn't. So she knew that she needed to move on from him and accept the fact that he loved her like a sister. 

As they sat on the bench not speaking, he kept thinking why she picked Cooper. Why couldn't she just see that he was in love with her, wouldn't that be easier, if she just figured out herself? That's when he decided that the silence needed to end. He turned to her, taking in her blonde hair, her gorgeous blue eyes, and her bright fuchsia lipstick. He decided that it was now or never. 

"felicity?"

"omg, Oliver it took you this long to talk me?"

“I know I am sorry. Thea mentioned Cooper and I just couldn't listen to that. I need to tell you something"

"what is it Oliver?" a smile appearing on her face

"well, we have known each other for a few years, and you know I love you. But I don't think you realize how much I love you"

“I know you love me Oliver. Just like Thea, I mean I know you obviously love her more than me, but she is your actual sister and.." she was cut off by him

"what the fuck felicity!" he shouted “you think I am saying I love you like my sister?"

She just looked at him in disbelief. Was he actually saying what she thought he was saying?

"Felicity, I love you. As in I want you, as in I want to have a future with you. I love you, love you. Do you understand?"

She sat there smiling like the biggest dork that had ever lived. But he loved her, he really did. Just like she did. Just the same as she loved him. She wanted all of that with him too. 

"Oliver, I... I love you too!" she screamed. Well more like squealed sending a jolt through his body. She would be his future. He knew in that moment; she would be his wife one day. Not any time soon, but maybe once she graduated, and he took over the company and they would start on having little Queens not soon after. 

 

He stood up in front of her, grabbed her hands and lifted her up from the bench and placed his hands on either side of her cheeks. He was going to kiss her. Their first actual kiss. She placed her hands around his waste to wrap around his back and tilted her head up towards him. He was a lot taller than her and today, of all days, she wore her favorite flats. She leaned into his face standing on her tip toes, and closed her eyes. She was happy at the fact that the day they would finally kiss she was wearing contacts. He closed his eyes and leaned into her. As soon as their lips touched sparks flew through their bodies and it was best kiss either one had ever had. 

He couldn't believe he waited this long to do this with her. He was such an idiot for waiting so long. She couldn't believe she was kissing the one person she could really be herself around. Well him and the girls, but she's pretty sure she didn't want to be kissing them like this, she said in her head. Why is she thinking of that when the man she loves is kissing her? What felt like hours, was only a matter of seconds when they pulled away from each other. He was still holding her face, but her hands had slid a little farther down his waste to the top of his ass.

She felt a little flustered, because she had never touched him there before, but she didn't care. As of this moment she was never going to let go of him. Not as long as either of them were alive. In that moment, she started thinking of their future together. Marriage, children, growing old together. They parted and without speaking, they knew what the other one was thinking. They grabbed each others hand and started walking back to the house.


	2. chapter 2

A few years passed and she was happy in her life with Oliver. They had bought a loft together in the heart of Starling city. They even got a little Westie and named him Duke. Everything in their lives were perfect. They were happy. Their friends were happy. Hell, even Robert and Moira were getting along these days, and that was a sight to be seen. Every Sunday was reserved for family dinner at the Queen mansion, with every Saturday night still reserved for girl’s nights. Thea was older now, 14 to be exact, and girl’s nights had stayed the same as they always had, expect now Thea was the one talking about boys. Thea had just started dating a boy she met at a local charity fundraiser that was held at her school, his name was Roy and he was 16. Oliver wasn't too happy she was dating an older boy but he couldn't really blame her, because he and Felicity were also 2 years apart and met almost around the same time.

 

Felicity was working for Queen Consolidated, head of the IT department. Oliver was VP of the company until he would become CEO once he turned 25. Which was in a matter of months. New years eve was approaching fast and he and felicity were working so hard and hardly had any free time together, so he decided to surprise her with a trip to Las Vegas, just the two of them. He also had talked to her mother about spending some time together when they were there and he wanted to surprise felicity so he had asked Donna not to say anything. Donna was quick to promise not to say anything, but he was still a little skeptical as he knew Donna gets excited and blabs about the littlest thing. Oh well he thought, if she finds out she finds out. 

The day came when he was going to whisk her away to Las Vegas for a big new year’s party Tommy was throwing at one of the clubs there. He and Laurel had split up a while ago, and Tommy hit the party scene really hard. Never really getting over her. Laurel on the hand was becoming a lawyer and was set to take the bar exam in a couple months and he knew for a fact she hadn't dated anyone since the break up. He thought maybe he would talk to Tommy on this trip about getting sober and clean and try to win Laurel back. But he knew he couldn't talk to him about that while he was partying, so he decided he was going to tell him when he was hungover at breakfast the next day. 

Tonight before the appearance at the club Oliver was going to take felicity to a nice, fancy restaurant and ask her to marry him. This was the perfect time he thought, why wait any longer. He was going to be CEO in a few months and that's when he had always planned on marrying her and starting a family with her. She knew that something like tonight was coming, after all, Oliver and her talked about everything and he told her his intentions very early on in the relationship. 

That night was going to be the best night of her life. She could just feel it. She needed to make this trip the best one because Oliver was going to be leaving in a few days on a business trip with his father and a few other his business partners, including Tommy's father, Malcom Merlyn on the Queens Gambit. To her it was more of a trip to get drunk on a boat with each other and swap business ideas, and to her that sounded so boring. 

As they sat at breakfast the next morning with a very hung over Tommy, she kept looking at it. Oliver had given her a beautiful emerald ring. Tear drop shape with 2 diamonds flanking each side of it. He had gotten it from his mother a few days before Christmas. Moira was so excited, but not surprised, because she knew they would always end up together. And she was right. Tommy had drunk his second cup of coffee when he finally noticed it. The sip he had taken was spat out all over the table and he couldn't contain himself. 

He jumped up and hugged felicity and then hugged Oliver. His best friends were getting married! As they sat at breakfast talking about how he asked and when they were getting married. Tommy was a little too invested into their relationship and hearing about all the details. In Felicity's mind Tommy wasn't just Oliver's friend, he was like one of the girls, always interrupting girl talks, trying to gain entry into the girls only sleepovers, or gossiping with the ladies like he was one. Even though Tommy was quite a man. She thinks it was just his way of holding onto Laurel after they broke up. 

After they finished talking about the engagement Oliver got a call asking them to come home early because the business trip was going to be moved up a few days due to a scheduling conflict. But really Moira, had already started planning the engagement party as soon as Oliver told her he had proposed. So this was Moira's way of getting him away from the house with his father so she could start planning. Sadly, Oliver had to let his fiancé, wow, he so happy he finally got to call her, that they had to head back home and that the trip had been pushed up.

Reluctantly, she agreed. Stating that even though she was sad about the trip ending, she knew they had the rest of their lives for trips just like these, she also knew that once he came home he would make it up to her. 

As they set foot in the Queen mansion, his bags were already packed for him and his father greeted him at the door. He knew that his mother had done that because he was sure Moira wanted to have mother daughter time, sort of speak, with Felicity. 

They were leaving at that moment. He wouldn't get a chance to have another day with felicity before he was to leave for 2 weeks, and that made his heart break, knowing he would be leaving her in what would be the exciting days ahead. But he knew that once he returned it was going to be full of planning a wedding, and hopefully get a head start on making some future little Queens with the woman he loved.

Felicity stood at the door to the mansion.

"Oliver, I wish you didn't have to go so soon" she said with a tear rolling down her cheek.

He gently wiped it away with his thumb before placing a kiss upon her lips. She wrapped he hands around his neck and pulled him in closer. He wrapped his arms around her waist as tight as he could, never wanting to let go. 

Pulling out of the embrace Oliver turned his head down towards her, hands cupping her cheeks again.

"I know, and I don't want to go right now either. But we need this deal we have been working on. It will kill me not to be around you everyday and not to hold or kiss you. To not see you, to tell everyone we are engaged. Felicity, I couldn't be happier and I want you to know that you are my whole world. I love you more than life itself. I can’t wait till I return and we can begin the rest of our lives together"

What that, he leaned down, hands still cupping her face and gave her a kiss on her forehead. He reluctantly pulled away, looking back at her as he walked towards the car. His father was already inside and knew they needed to leave but he also knew that he could, and would not make his son hurry. Robert sat slightly turned as he watched Felicity and Oliver wave at each other as Oliver got into the back seat. 

Robert looked at his son "you know; I am so proud of you. You have found a wonderful woman. And I couldn't be happier on your engagement"

"thank you dad, that means a lot to me" Oliver said with a smile so big his face hurt. 

As the Car pulled away and through the gates at the end of the property Felicity started to cry. It wasn't a sob, it wasn't sad. They were happy tears. She was happy. Not happy seeing him leave, but happy that once he came home life would truly begin.

 

It was only 2 weeks she said to herself. She was going to have the rest of her life with this man. So what's 2 weeks?


	3. chapter 3

Her engagement ring is huge. Not just huge, its gargantuan. She can’t help but show it off any time someone asks to see it or she told them she was engaged. She never thought she would be that girl to squeal at a ring. But boy, was it ever a beautiful ring, given to her by her super handsome billionaire fiancé. 

Sitting there at brunch on a Sunday with her best girlfriends talking about her engagement party, she couldn’t help but to think how lucky she was to have found someone who loved her. She couldn’t help to think about how she never thought that she would get married. If someone had told her 5 years ago this would be her life she would have laughed in their face.

 

Felicity had decided that instead of living together before the wedding she would stay at her townhouse with her roommate, more like sister these days, Thea so she could enjoy her girls nights and lazy Saturday afternoons before she moved into the mansion that was her fiancés home. 

As the girls sat having brunch at the country club, like they do every Sunday Felicity’s eyes swept around the table, taking in the sights of her beautiful friends. There was Thea of course, chin length brown hair that was slightly curled, wearing little to no make up. Laurel who was now recently blonde with flawless waves and make up to make her eyes pop. Sara with her blonde straight hair not a touch of make up. Nyssa, Caitlyn and Iris rounded out the group looking pretty haggard from the pervious evenings debauchery that was Verdant, and too many tequila shots. Yet they still looked stunning.

 

As she was looking around the table Felicity felt something wash over her that made her freeze mid thought, until Thea started freaking out and crying and laughing at the same time. Her laugh however was more of a relief laugh, a reluctant laugh. Felicity immediately turned to her roommate and best friend to inquire about what had her in such a state. 

Thea jumped up from the table and lunged at Felicity and engulfed her in a big, almost bone crushing hug. The young woman pulled away from Felicity, looked her in the eyes and said, with tears rolling down her face 

"Oliver is back"

Felicity gasped. How could he be back, he was dead, the boat went down and there were no survivors. The table of woman all started to get up and hug each other and cry and laugh. The woman at the table had lost someone that day when the Queens Gambit when down in the North China Sea 5 years ago. Until now. They all let out a sigh of relief as they quickly darted up to get the waiter to put the meals on their tabs so they could all rush over to the Queen mansion on the other side of town to make sure, to really make sure this was all true.

Felicity stood frozen, not knowing what to do until she heard a voice from behind her telling her that he was going to take her to the mansion with all the other ladies. She turned around to see her fiancé Ray, with a look in his eyes that told her she was going to be alright. But was she? She wondered. It had been 5 years and she had moved on from the man she loved and was getting married to Ray Palmer, billionaire, CEO and owner of Palmer Technologies. Emotions started to rage through her that she didn't quite know what to do with. She was relieved, sad, mad, happy all at the same time. Felicity didn't know what she was going to say, she hasn't said anything since that wave had hit her and Thea had told her. The women were finally leaving the country club, getting into the limo that Ray had brought to pick Felicity up in.

Ray had arrived at the club to greet his beautiful fiancé and her friends before he was going to whisk her away to an afternoon away from the city. But when he walked up to the table he heard Thea say that Oliver was back and he knew what he had to do. Ray knew that all of the women at the table had a personal and close connection to Oliver before he disappeared 5 years ago, so he knew that he had to forget about his plans and take them all over to Queen mansion instead of trying to find a cab or a town car to take them. That should be the least of their worries this morning. 

When Ray had seen Felicity's expression, something hit him like a ton of bricks to the gut. He had never seen her like this before, and he didn't know why she wasn't laughing and crying and jumping around hugging everyone at the table just like the other women were doing. She was just standing there, frozen. He decided that this was not the time, nor the place to ask her how she was feeling.

The women piled into the limousine and were immediately on the road towards the mansion. Cheers and laughter were coming from each of the women while tears and shaking were coming from Felicity. Thea looked up and fell out of her excitement as soon as she saw the tears. Ray was sitting beside Felicity but she wasn't letting him touch her or hold her, she just kept staring out the window until a wide eyed brunette plopped herself next her. 

Sitting between the window and Felicity, Thea reached her arm around the crying woman's shoulder and started running her hands through her hair telling her it was going to be alright. Felicity felt a slight bit of relief when the small brunette woman comforted her. Felicity sank down into the seat and put her head on Thea's shoulder and starting crying. The crying had calmed down to almost nothing when they reached the mansion.

As the limousine pulled up to the gate, they were surprised that it was already open. Typically, the gate stayed shut and you had to use to code to get onto the grounds, but today it seemed as though no one cared and decided to leave it open as they expected a lot of people would be gathering there in just a short time at the miraculous return of Oliver Queen.

Thea opened the door that was beside her, whispering to Felicity   
"hey Lis, we're here. We need to get out of the car and go into the house ok? I am sure everyone is waiting for us" 

All Felicity could muster up in the moment was a "uh huh" and as Thea took her hand toward the massive front door that was also left open, she noticed Felicity was squeezing her hand so tightly as though she was scared. As they reached the front door all the women could hear was crying, some sort of laughter, and a voice saying he was ok. As soon as Felicity had heard that voice something in her demeanor changed. She let go of Thea's hand and ran into the room she had heard the voice coming from. Felicity had spent so much time here during the last 12 years she knew every room in the mansion like the back of her hand. As she ran into the formal living room to the right of the foyer she stopped in her tracks. 

 

There he was, standing up letting go of a hug from his mother, Moira Queen. Moira turned to see that Felicity and the other women, as well as Ray Palmer were standing in the entry way with mouths wide open almost disbelieving that this was happening.

Moira had walked over to Felicity and hugged her, she had whispered something in her ear that in the moment wasn't sure she heard correctly. Flustered she turned to see Thea breakdown. Thea was on the floor kneeling with her head in her hands sobbing uncontrollably. And not thinking about herself in that moment she picked Thea up and shoved her toward Oliver. Oliver grabbed her hugging her and placing a kiss on her forehead

"I've missed you Speedy" he said. Thea looked up at him and said 

"Ugh, you know I hate that nickname" he laughed and gave her another kiss on her forehead before turning to the other women standing in the hall. 

Laurel was the first one to run to him, jumping in his arms and hugging him so tightly it started to hurt, not Oliver but herself. She let out a small chuckle as she pulled away. He noticed the small bump that was her stomach, and she promised him she would tell him everything once tommy had seen him. Oliver gave her a curious look, and noticed she was wearing what looked to be an engagement ring and wedding bands. 

Laurel and Tommy had been dating since high school and once they graduated became very serious. It had gotten too serious and when they went away to college they had decided to try dating other people. That's when the Queens gambit had gone down, and after they grieved at the loss of their old friend Tommy and Laurel had decided to try again. They were the first to get married out of the bunch. Shortly after their wedding 4 years ago they found out she was pregnant and had Olivia Merlyn 6 months after the wedding. She was now pregnant with their second child, whom she hoped would be a boy. Tommy on the other hand wanted another girl. But its not like they had a choice.

The next to hug Oliver was Sara, she too was wearing a ring, and he started to grow suspicious at why so many people were wearing rings on that particular finger. He knew he had been gone for 5 years but he never thought that coming home he would see so much of his life change. Sarah let go of the hug as her wife Nyssa walked into the room. Nyssa was tall and slender and had long raven coloured hair. Contrasting against Sara's blonde hair. Nyssa walked up to Oliver and shook his hand as she had only meet him a few times before the accident and when she and Sara were just friends. 

Felicity was still just standing in the doorway, hands in her pockets so he couldn't see if she had a ring. And he hoped to god she didn't have one. Caitlyn and Iris said their hellos to him with short hugs. 

As everyone had said their hellos and well wishes on his being back, everyone, especially Moira had noticed Felicity still hadn't moved from her location at the entry to the room. While everyone else was getting a drink at the fully stocked bar in the formal living area she was still standing there, staring at Oliver, and he staring at her, all while Ray stood behind her. Oliver noticed Ray when he walked into the room while everyone was eagerly waiting their turn to see him.

He couldn't help but wonder why he was there. Oliver was never friends with Ray Palmer and he didn't know that any of his friends knew him before he had gone on his trip. So he stood there looking at Ray wondering what hell he was doing there when a small crackled voice drew him from his thought. 

The voice was from Felicity; he would know that voice anywhere. Even if it had been 5 years since he had seen or spoken to her. He glanced down to find her standing right in front of him, her hand on his chest. That's when he looked down to her finger, he saw nothing. He felt relieved, but at the same time she wasn't wearing his ring. He knew he shouldn't have expected her to have still been wearing it after all this time, but he had hoped she hadn't moved on. 

She reached up to his face touching his cheeks rubbing her palms on the stubble that he never had before the trip. His hair was shorter and seemed darker than she remembered. As she ran her fingers through his hair, back down his cheek and back to his heart, she couldn't hold it in any longer. She wrapped her arms around him tightly as if she was never going to let him go, when he whispered "I missed you Felicity" at the sound of her name she crumbled. She never thought she would ever hear him say her name again, she never thought she would see him again, she never thought she would have the love of her life back. 

She placed a quick kiss on his now stubbled cheek when she realized Ray was approaching to introduce himself. For some strange and unknown reason when she let go of Oliver, while still holding his arm, her hand sliding down to his hand, she introduced Ray as her friend. Why on earth had she done that, she was marrying him in 4 months and they had been together for 3 years. Why had she taken her ring off? Why was she trying to hide that fact she was engaged? 

She knew he couldn’t have blamed her for moving on, but then why did it hurt her so much at the thought she had found someone when he was dead all these years. Why did she just introduce him to Oliver as her 'friend'? She remembered what Moira had told her when she hugged her. She told felicity to ‘take it off’. Nothing more, nothing less. But as Felicity's hands were in her pocket she slid the ring off. 

Moira had come to let everyone know that dinner was being served in the dining room and that Tommy would be arriving shortly as he was on the Merlyn private jet when he had gotten the news. Tommy was flying back from Gotham City after a meeting with Bruce Wayne about a merger between Wayne Enterprises and Merlyn Global. Between the Merlyns, Queens and Palmers, they practically owned the city of starling. Oliver knew that Tommy was CEO of his father company and that Ray was CEO of his, respectively. And he assumed his mother or Walter were the CEO of queen consolidated. 

Tommy had burst in the door just as everyone was sitting down for dinner, he quickly said his pleasantries to the Queen woman, Sara, Nyssa, Caitlyn and Iris. He walked to laurel giving her a kiss and rubbing her growing belly. Sitting next to Laurel was Felicity and he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and extended a hand to Ray. When did Tommy and Ray become friends, he thought to himself. That's when Tommy spotted him. Tommy then ran around the table almost knocking over tray of food to get to Oliver. Oliver stood up and tommy grabbed his best friend and gave him the biggest bro hug he could, without making it weird of course.

Now that Tommy was there getting situated between and empty chair and Thea, Raisa brought in the most beautiful 3-year-old. She had long black hair, and the cutest button nose. Raisa walked her to the empty chair between Tommy and Laurel and placed a booster seat in the chair. Laurel picked up Olivia and placed her down onto the chair. Oliver couldn't take his eyes off of the family sitting across from him. They looked like the perfect family. A family that he should have had by now. 

Conversation started flowing and everyone chatting about nothing in particular when Oliver got up from his seat and started to walk around the table to where Felicity was sitting. Moira was quick to notice and got up to meet him. 

Moira and Felicity had always gotten along, seeing the way Felicity was with Thea growing up made her hopeful of a future she had envisioned for her son. In the years since Oliver had 'died' Felicity had become like a daughter to her and would throw her birthday parties and hold Hanukkah celebrations because Felicity's mother couldn't always travel from Vegas to be with her. Moira was a bit reluctant when Thea begged her to let her move in with Felicity and knew that there would be no stopping as she knew they were more like sisters than best friends. She also trusted Felicity and knew she would keep her daughter safe. So she knew the second Oliver got up to go talk to her she had to stop it. Yes, he was her son, her beautiful boy, but right now was not the best time for that conversation. 

Moira met with Oliver just a few chairs down from where Felicity was seated and asked to speak to privately. He agreed with a nod. The two walked outside towards the garden and sat on a bench.

"Oliver, I know that you just returned and there are a lot of things that are new around you, and I think you should take some time before we go into everything you missed"

"mother, there is something going on, and I just want the chance to talk to her. Everything around me has changed apart from Thea and Felicity, everyone is married. Some even have children. She was my best friend before I left, my fiancé, and I just really need to talk to her right now."

“I understand that sweetie, I do, but today has been a shock to us all and it's not the best day to be having serious conversations"

"MOTHER" he shouted "what are you not telling me?"

"Oliver, Felicity is engaged to Ray and she is getting married here, in the garden in 4 months" she said with a sigh

Oliver looked as though someone had smacked him in the chest with a 2x4. he couldn’t believe that she engaged. He hadn't seen a ring on her finger. She introduced Ray as her friend. Why would she hide she was engaged? He knew she would only have been doing it to protect him, to not flood him with more emotions. He was flooded with so many when he had seen everyone standing in that room. He loved Felicity, still, he knew she couldn’t marry Ray. Not while he was alive. He had to stop it. Moira standing in front of the bench said it is time to go back inside and finish the lovely evening with his closest friends.


	4. chapter 4

Oliver and his mother joined the table again while everyone around them were laughing and joking around, Oliver couldn't seem to wipe the scowl off of his face, when he heard the ringing of a phone, then multiple phones. He noticed that Moira, Tommy, Ray and Felicity, were all talking to whomever was on the other line and they all had a panicked look on their faces. Moira hung up first, followed by Ray, then Tommy and Felicity hang up at the same time. Oliver was a little worried at why they all look so shocked and scared, but he wondered why felicity would be getting a call and why should be worried with the rest.

Moira quickly walked towards Oliver after giving Thea a kiss on her forehead. She stood beside Oliver telling him that they need to leave for a work emergency. He was a little confused as they all worked for different companies and still didn't know why Felicity would be leaving too, he just assumed that maybe she worked at Palmer tech in the IT department as he remembers how much she loved computers.

Tommy kissed Olivia on the cheek and looked to Sara who is nodding her head in agreement to an unspoken question. Laurel got up from her chair and told Sara and Nyssa they don't know when they will be back to pick up Olivia. Ok, so Oliver is sure Laurel is going with them, but doesn't know why. She was going to law school at the time the boat went down, so she must have become a lawyer.

The 5 of them quickly got their coats and rushed out the door without another word to the others seated at the table. Oliver rose to his feet to chase after to find out what is going on. when he got to the door and noticed that they all gotten into the same limousine. "odd" he said to himself. As the limousine pulled away from the driveway Sara, Nyssa, Olivia, Caitlyn and Iris were all putting their coats on, giving him a hug and saying again how glad they are he was home. With that, they headed out the front door and he was left with Thea. 

Thea was on her cell phone looking up something and not looking particularly happy at the moment. She had moved from the dining room to the living room in front of a TV above the fireplace. She turned on the TV to the local news channel and stories about charity balls and good Samaritans, and of course the biggest news story in the last 5 years, that Oliver Queen is alive and back in Starling city. He thought maybe she is watching to hear what people are saying about it, but he noticed that she not once had glanced up from her phone, until he heard it.

"Late this evening there was a cyber attack on multiple cooperation's around the country. Out of the top companies affected by todays attack, Queen Consolidated, Palmer Technologies, Merlyn Global and Wayne Enterprises were hit the hardest. A live press conference will be starting in a few moments outside of Queen Consolidated where the CEO, Ms. Felicity Smoak will brief us on what has happened. Ms. Smoak has been the CEO of Queen Consolidated for 4 years, she finished her Masters degree at MIT when she was just 19 years of age. Ms. Smoak is a very close personal friend to the Queens and was put in charge of Queen Consolidated after Mrs. Moira Queen had fallen ill and entrusted Ms. Smoak with the company that was to be left to her son Oliver Queen on his 25th birthday. Felicity Smoak was the fiancé to billionaire Oliver Queen. Oliver Queen was in a boating accident just before his 24th birthday and until today was presumed deceased. We are just getting word that Ms. Smoak will now be making a statement. We take you live to Queen Consolidated"

Oliver had to sit down halfway through what was coming out of his TV. So many thoughts popped into his head. The first being, his mother was ill, and what happened? The second was disbelief, and amazement about why his mother would make Felicity, His fiancé, the CEO of his family’s company. He wasn't mad at the choice, his father had died at see and seeing how is mother never remarried and had somehow fallen ill, he thought that the CFO Walter Steele would have taken over. 

Felicity's image appeared on the screen as well as Laurel, Tommy, Moira and Ray. Felicity stated that due to a mysterious power outage that had taken all the mainframes of each company offline, there was a breach of security and some important and detrimental documents were stolen. She stated at this time the documents taken were just blueprints to future technologies that the 4 companies were collaborating on and that any further details were unimportant at this time. 

She asked for privacy for all their companies as they sorted out and could fix the problem and they would release a statement as soon as they knew more, but being an internal investigation they were not at liberty to divulge any evidence they had found at this time. With that she concluded the press conference and they all rejected any questions. Oliver could see them walk back into QC and the doors had been locked behind them. 

Oliver turned to Thea and she looked just as taken aback by the press conference, but for reasons different than Oliver's. He knew Thea knew something was going on, and he knew she knew what they were all working on. But he thought he would leave that question till his mother came home. As he finished the thought Thea got up from the couch and gave him a hug and let him know she was going home. He thought Thea lived here at the mansion, but if she didn't live here, then where? 

He asked Thea to stay over at the mansion as he didn't want to be alone on the first night back in 5 years. The mansion seemed so foreign to him and he was not used to all this space he told her. But the real reason he didn't want to be alone, was because he was alone on that god forsaken island for almost 5 years before he was found, but he didn't want her to see him nervous or scared. Thea sensed something wasn't right about his statement and offered him to crash at her place. 

"Ollie, you can stay with me, but you need to know that I don't live alone. I have a roommate; I like to say I am renting from her. But she hates when I call it that, cuz technically I paid for half. But it was more of a gift to her from mom and mom still wanted me to pay half and pay most of the bills, even though Lis can totally afford it all on her own. But I totally get it, mom thinks of her like her daughter and I also think it is to give me some kind of responsibility"

"you live with Felicity?" he asked his 19-year-old sister, whom he thinks is way too young to be living on her own, even if it is with another person. Even it is with Felicity, or Lis as she keeps calling her. Thankfully it's woman and not a guy. Was she still with Roy? Could they have been together this whole time? He wanted to ask, but right now was not the time for that.

"yes, I live with her. You know she was always so nice to me growing up, and after you, um, left.... She took me under her wing and we ended up getting super close. And when I turned 18 she asked me if I wanted to live with her because she knew I wasn't happy being at home. And she was putting an offer in for a new townhouse. And it was a couple years after mom went through her 'thing' and she started dating someone. So I thought it was probably for the best that I moved out."

Not wanting to press the issue, or feel excited that his sister was living with his one true love, he decided to ask her something else.

"Speedy, can you tell me what happened to mom? I shouldn't have found out from the news that she had been sick. Is she ok?"

"well, mom got really depressed about 6 months after you left us, and with dad and you being gone, she couldn't handle it. She would lock herself in her room for days on end. She would forget about meetings and she would forget about me. She was so sad and I had started to get very angry at her until Felicity came over one day and found me crying on the stairs. As soon as she saw me she grabbed my arm, pulled me towards moms room, and just burst through the door and started yelling at mom. I was so sure mom was going to kill her for some of the things she was saying. After we left her room we went to the kitchen and started eating some cookies Raisa had just baked, and in came mom. Showered, looking like her normal self. She told Felicity to finish the cookie in the car and that they were going to for a drive. Turned out that mom had taken her to QC into a board meeting and made her CEO"

"wait, mom just stormed in and told them she was going to be the CEO?"

"yes, well not entirely. I guess she had been talking with Walter and for a while and getting the board on board, sort of speak, and they were going to tell her that following Monday. But mom told her that she was what she needed to pull her out of her funk and get back to life. And the way she looked out for me and how she didn't care who mom was at the time made her happy in her decision to make her CEO and she couldn't let someone else do it for her"

"wow, I never thought Moira Queen would ever get depressed" he said with a low chuckle "and that Felicity of all people would be the one to snap her out of it"

"mom started dating Walter a year after and then they got married 3 years ago. It was about the same time that mom and Walter introduced Felicity to Ray" she said nervously

His heart sank deep in his chest. How could his mother have been the one to introduce her to Ray? She knew how much we loved each other. He also knew that Felicity was like her other daughter. But they also thought he was dead, and she needed to move on with her life, just as his mother had done with Walter. Which was still a bit strange to him.

Oliver had waited up for his mother that evening, or at least he tried to. It was around 2 am and she still hadn't come home. Clearly if she and Walter were married then he would live here too, but he too had not been seen all night. He had finally given up on anyone coming home that night so he decided to sleep. Around 4am he heard someone in the doorway to his room. He thought it would be his mother or Thea. He wasn’t expecting who he saw. 

She was just as beautiful the day he told her he had loved her for the last time, the day he and his father had set out on the Gambit. She still wore her hair in a ponytail, still had those same black framed glasses, still wore those dresses that she always thought were too short, and high heels. But there was now something different about her, he knew it had to be because she was engaged. And not to him. But seeing her standing in his doorway at 4am threw his stomach in loops. He watched as she just stood there with the light from the hallway illuminating her from behind, it looked as if she had a halo around her head. And to him he would have believed that because to him she was an angel. She used to be his angel. But now, now she was Ray's. He wished he never gotten on that damn boat, never agreed to that trip, never left her.


	5. chapter 5

As Felicity stood in the doorway to Oliver’s bedroom, she glanced towards his bed. Thinking he would still be sleeping. But to her delight, he was wide awake and looking at her. She was nervous. She could feel her heart race; she could feel her fingers tingle. Her stomach flipping over itself. She walked towards Oliver, who had sat himself up against the headboard turning on the light beside him. She walked past his desk that was against the right wall, and ran her finger on the edge. Her eyes settled on a picture that was on his desk of Oliver holding her while giving her a kiss on her temple. 

She walked over to him, he was frozen as he sat on what was always his side of the bed. She made her way to his side, lifted her hands onto his cheeks and looked him in the eyes. She was about to say something to him when he grabbed her around her waste and pulled her towards him. She was laying on top of his chest, hands wrapped around his neck, his around her torso. His eyes as blue as she remembered. 

“Hi” he said in the softest tone

A small tear fell from her eye. “Hi” she replied

"Felicity, don’t cry, I’m here"

"Oliver. You…you died. Well obviously you didn’t die, but like you did. For 5 years. You left and I never saw you again, I thought I was going to die myself...." she trailed off

He cupped her face, as she was still on top of him, and he brought his face towards her. In an instant his lips were on her lips, slowly kissing her, just trying to take it all in. She didn’t let go, instead she fell into him even more than she had been and kissed him back. She had waited 5 years to do that. She missed him so much. She opened her mouth to allow him access. He was passionately kissing her now, she passionately kissing him back. She slipped off her heels, and sat up a little straighter and straddled him. He was holding onto her as if he was never letting go, her fingers running though his hair and down to the nape of his neck. It had felt like hours when they heard a door slam. They pulled away from each other, to turn to see what it was. 

His door had been open when she walked towards him before the kiss, but it had now been closed. She jumped off of him to check to see who had shut the door. She looked at the clock, 4:25 am. Wow, she had been with Oliver for almost a half hour. Yet it was still way to early for anyone to be up at this time. She opened the door and saw a small brunette figure skipping down the hallway. It was Thea, she had shut their door. Thea turned around looked at Felicity and gave her a wink before disappearing into her old bedroom. 

 

Felicity went back into Oliver’s room and shut the door behind her this time, hoping no one would interrupt. But she then realized that she shouldn’t be alone with him, she should be at home or Ray’s. She decided she didn’t care. She went back to Oliver. He was still sitting in the same spot, with his back against the headboard. Felicity sat next to him on the edge of the bed. Staring into his blue eyes she knew that this was where she was meant to be. She cuddled up next to him, his arm wrapped around her waist, her back pressed against his chest. 

“So, I assume that was….” He was cut off

“Thea? Ya it was that little devil” she said with a chuckle

“I’m not surprised. She always did want you two to be ‘real’ sisters” he said with hope in his voice

“Yes she did. And don’t get me wrong I do too, she just has funny ways of trying to make that happen. I mean come on you see two people making out, maybe don’t draw so much attention to yourself. Even though we both know that is totally her style.” They both laughed and she let out a big yawn

“Well Ms. Smoak, I think it is time you get some sleep. You have had a long day and I am sure you are exhausted” 

“Yes I am” she said while letting out yet another yawn.

“ok, well lets get some sleep and we will talk about whatever you want to talk about In the morning. And Felicity, I…. I love you” 

He was met with silence. Oh god, why was he so stupid to say it so soon? She was with Ray; she would never say it back right now. Stupid stupid stupid, he thought to himself until he heard the best sound he had ever heard. 

“I love you too” she whispered while falling back asleep

He closed his eyes and thought to himself that he was finally home. The woman that stared in his dreams for the last 5 years, curled into him, saying she loved him too. This was it. This was what he had dreamt about all those years away from her. He finally knew he was safe.

They slept for 4 hours, waking up at 9am. Not enough if you had asked her. Not because of the actual sleep, but for the cuddling that was happening between her and Oliver. She was content. Happy. She was also emotionally drained and yet still had enough to think about what her next move needed to be. She had completely forgot about the nightmare of the night before trying to fix the intrusion at Queen Consolidated. Her mind just kept going back to how good it felt to be in Oliver’s arms once again. Then her phone rang.

She quickly grabbed it from the nightstand where she had placed it earlier that morning. Rays name and picture popped up on her screen. She was going to ignore the call just to stay in Oliver’s embrace when he pulled away.

“you should probably get that. He must be worrying about you” he said with distain.  
“well, I really didn’t want to. I was going to ignore it. There’s so much I need to ask you, and tell you”  
“I know, but I think you should probably take that” answering the phone for her before passing it to her, he got out of bed walking to the ensuite.

“Hey, umm, I can’t really talk right now Ray. I’m with Oliver and there’s just so much we have to talk about” Oliver heard her say. He couldn’t hear what Ray was saying, it was just the faint answers from Felicity he could hear as he stood against the closed door in his bathroom. “No Ray! I don’t know when I will be going home” ….” yes I know I never went home last night” …….” you know that you can’t tell me who I can and cannot be around, this is Oliver were talking about” …… “ok, you know what, I am hanging up now. If I wanted to be yelled at like that I would call my... well I don’t know who I would call, because no one talks to me this way, ugh why am I even explaining myself to you, Good bye Ray” Oliver pulled away from the door just as there was a knock.

“Oliver… I need to talk to you” her voice was faint and timid sounding. He pulled the door open immediately to see tears forming in her eyes. He grabbed her and pulled her in close to him, her arms wrapped around his waist and grabbing his shirt into her fists.

“Felicity, you can talk to me about anything. You know that” he said while looking down to her face as she buried into his chest. “you know that even though I have been gone you are still my best friend, and you can talk to me about anything. Even things you don’t think you can”

She pulled her head away from chest, looking back up at him.

“I know I can. I just…. I’m so torn. I have missed you so much and want to spend every waking minute with you….”

“but….?” He asked nervously

“but I am also engaged to Ray. Ugh, stupid Ray. He always told me, that if by some miracle you were to show up one day that I would run right back to you. And you know what I told him… huh…. I told him fuck yes I would. You were the love of my life. But at the same time I never thought you would actually be standing here in front of me as you are now. And that’s just super fucking crazy, and like….” Just then she burst into tears. Oliver hugging her tighter and tighter with each tear that fell. He gently wiped them off her cheeks and tilted her head up. Lightly pressing a kiss to her lips. He pulled away.

“you moved on, I don’t blame you. I would never have wanted you to wait for a man you thought would never come home. I know its hard Felicity, but you need to take some time and figure out what you want. And before you look at me and use your loud voice to say that its me, I want you to go home and really, I mean really think about what you want. I have changed since the accident, and I don’t know if I am the person you are expecting”

“Oliver, you will always be the same man I fell in love with. I mean shit, I was 16 years old when we started dating, and by that time we were already in love with each other, I mean I didn’t know at like 15 I was in love with you, that would have been crazy, and like stupid, like who meets their soul mate at 15 years old? I mean I know a lot of people do, that’s beside the point. Ok I’m going to stop now, 3-2-1….”

He let out a chuckle. He always loved her rambles.  
“Well for one, we did. And if I could do it all over again, I would, I would just ask you out a lot sooner than I did. I always felt like you were going to become my…”

“Home” they said in unison with smiles.

“But I still think you need to take some time to yourself. I will always be waiting for you. Take as much time as you need and whatever you decide to do I will support it. Even it takes longer than I want” he said placing a kiss upon her forehead

With that, he let go of her; Walked to the nightstand that held her phone and handed it to her. She looked down and started to cry. She wasn’t crying because she was sad. She was crying because the love of her life had just let her decide if she wanted him, her former fiancé, or her actual fiancé. To her that was the most selfless thing anyone had ever done for her. But she knew that she wouldn’t be in the frame of mind today to make that sort of decision, even though she knew 99.99% that she would end things with Ray. 

She walked out of his room, she looked back at him to see that he was smiling. It wasn’t his genuine smile, it was more like his smile he put on when he was hurt and didn’t want anyone to know. She smiled back. Felicity had started walking towards the staircase to head out when an arm grabbed her and pulled her into a room.


	6. chapter 6

Felicity was pulled into a room beside the stairs. With a quick glance she realized it was Thea’s old room. Thea was standing there with a big smile and excitement in her eyes.

“you totally had sex with my brother last night didn’t you? Um, oh wait, no I don’t really want to know that. Just nod”

Felicity shook her head. Thea screamed.

“Lis, omg don’t lie, I saw you in his arms. I was the one who closed his door to give you more privacy remember…. Anyways, if you didn’t, ummm, do anything, then why were you laying on top with him while his arms were wrapped around you, and what looked to be you two kissing?” the tiny brunette said inquisitively 

“I will have you know I went to talk to him this morning after getting back from the office. I thought you might have stayed here instead of going home so I just wanted to check after I dropped your mom off”

“Suuuure, that’s why you came here, to check on little old me” the brunette said with a smirk

“But, anyways, as I was coming up the stairs I noticed that his door was open and I just couldn’t help myself from taking a peek. I thought he was sleeping but then I noticed he wasn’t. And as I was about to leave when he noticed me. Then I just kind of walked towards him and layed with him. Well that and we also kind of made out a little bit. Until ‘someone’ slammed the door”

A shrill shriek escaped Thea’s mouth and she walked closer to the blonde woman who was now sitting on the bed. 

“You missed him, I know you still love him you cant deny that. I’m just surprised you didn’t do that as soon as you saw him yesterday. I had a bet with mom…” Thea was cut off by the other woman.  
“Thea, you had a bet with Moira? What about? Wait I don’t want to know… And you know I am with Ray, and he was standing right behind me the entire time. What was I supposed to do, run to Oliver, kiss him and turn around and be like ‘oh sea ya Ray, he is here now so you can leave’? no I don’t think so”

“So…. now that Oliver is back you want to dump Ray then?” Thea asked with hope in her eyes.

Thea hadn’t really liked Ray all that much over the years. He was arrogant, self centred and always tried to ‘buy’ her friends love. He had even offered to buy Thea her own place, even though she could buy it herself, just so he didn’t have to come over and see anyone but Felicity. She always thought he was only in it for an eventual merger of QC and PT, but she could never prove it. Felicity on the other hand, cared for him, never saw what he tried to do, and would brush it off as kind gestures. 

But Thea knew that she didn’t want her best friend, once almost sister-in-law, to marry such a douche monkey. So every night before she would lay her head down to sleep, Thea would pray, not that she was religious by any means. She would pray that Oliver would come home and not be dead so her best friend would once again become her sister and everything would be right in the world. For 5 years Thea prayed he would come back to them. The 1 night she forgot, was the night Ray proposed. 

“I think I need to call Ray. We talked a bit this morning and he was acting so controlling, telling me I couldn’t be here. I couldn’t hang around him when no one else was around. He was actually yelling at me, like talking to me like a child. Ugh, that asshole” Felicity said with a sharp snap.

“Lis, you know how I feel about the situation, and how I feel about Ray. I told you to dump his ass almost as soon as you started dating. So if there was a question in that statement about calling him, I am for sure the absolute wrong person to ask” she said with a smile

“I know Speedy. I just don’t think I can go through with this today. There are so many emotions running through my head. Did you know he asked me about a merger the other day? Ya, I just laughed in his face. Like that is ever going to happen. If QC merges with anyone it will be Merlyn Global, yet we know that wont be happening because of the merger with Wayne Enterprises”

“I KNEW IT!” Thea screamed. “I knew that was why he asked you to marry him so soon. He probably never thought he would have to wait this long before you actually did. And thank god you did, because now my brother is back and you can totally dump his sorry ass” she said with extreme excitement.

“Well I guess first things first. I need to let him down. It wont be easy but I need to make sure I talk to Moira to let her know what is going on, just so there isn’t any backlash against me or the company”

Oliver had been walking towards the stairs when he heard faint chattering, he heard screaming but couldn’t exactly make out what was being said. As he put his ear to the slightly cracked open door he heard something Felicity was saying 

“Well I guess first things first. I need to let him down. It wont be easy but I need to make sure I talk to Moira to let her know what is going on, just so there isn’t any backlash against me or the company”

He quickly pulled away from the door, and ran down the stairs. He felt his heart break. She was ending things with him before it was even getting started? They had just talked only a half an hour ago. She had just fell asleep in his arms like they used to every night. He was devastated, but he had given her a choice, told her he wanted her to take her time. He didn’t think it would be this quick. He was hoping that she would dump Ray and let him woo her like he did when they first met.   
. . .

It was during one of his walks to his classroom right after lunch, this was the day he was finally going to introduce himself to her. He saw her standing there talking to Sara. He had already laid the ground work for the introduction as not to come across as weird. As he walked up to Sara, he noticed her friend had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen, the most gorgeous shade of blue. He turned himself to face her and shot out his hand to her “hi I am Oliver, and you are?” even though he knew her name, this was his way to actually knowing her, and getting to be apart of her life. “um, hi, I’m, um, Felicity” she said to him shyly. And in the moment, the moment he heard her shaky voice, he knew he was done for. This woman was going to be his undoing. She would be on his mind all the time and he would make an honest woman of her one day.

. . .

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he heard a little bark coming from the living room. His family never had a dog before, then it hit him. It couldn’t be he thought, he would have to be 7 now, did Felicity really keep him this whole time. The little Westie ran right up to him, liking his shins. Oliver bent down to look at the collar. Sure enough, it said ‘Duke’. He and Felicity had gotten him when he was a puppy when they had moved into the loft, and pretended he was their child. She liked to say it was practice for the real thing, and it would give them a routine in the form of walks and feedings. Oliver had just been happy with her saying it was their ‘child’ he didn’t really hear the rest of what she had said. 

And here he was, standing in his living room with their dog. So happy, so excited he scooped up Duke and held him in his arms. Duke was licking Oliver’s face, when he remembered what he had just heard upstairs. As excited as he was in that moment, he was overcome by guilt, and sadness. He held his dog a little tighter and walked to the kitchen to find his mother reading the morning paper, sipping on a coffee. Walter was sat across the table form her, reading a British paper sipping on his tea. 

The dog yelped and jumped from Oliver’s arms. He ran to Moira, and starting wagging his little tail. She lightly patted her knee and Duke jumped up onto her lap and curled into himself and closed his eyes. Oliver couldn’t believe his mother would let a dog do that. He had never seen his mother like any kind of animal before, and here she was, reading a newspaper with her husband and a sleeping dog on her lap.

He walked towards the coffee pot and poured himself a large cup, black was how he took it now. Nothing fancy like he had before. His mother noticed him and asked for him to join them. He nodded and sat next to her. 

“So, I see you have met Duke again” she said with a smile

“you know after you left, he drove Felicity crazy. He would bark at all the bumps in the night, he starting urinating all over the loft. He even ate a few of your shoes. And one day he got out of the loft. She had come home from work about 7 months after the accident and the door was wide open. She called the police suspecting a break in but nothing was moved, or taken. Then she realized she hadn’t seen him. He hadn’t come to her when she came home” Moira said before taking a sip of her coffee. 

“She had called me and asked if I or anyone had been to the loft that day, no one had. I walked out the front door to meet her and try to find him, when I opened the door and there he was. I guess he ran all the way across town. And as soon as I opened the door he ran upstairs and started scratching your bedroom door. So I opened it and he just jumped onto the bed and fell asleep. That’s when Felicity decided it was best that he came and stayed here indefinitely”

Oliver couldn’t believe it. His cute little puppy had run all the way across town to come to his old house. He had heard of stories like that before but they didn’t spend as much time here as they did at the loft. They did bring him to see the family every Sunday and anytime there was an event so they didn’t have to worry about him. So he was surprised that he would come here and not stay with her. He was also surprised that she gave him up so quickly. He decided he didn’t need another sad thing today and got up from the table, kissed his mother on her cheek and said he would go for a walk. Dukes ears perked up and before he knew the little Westie was running around his feet,

“Oliver, you said the magic word. Now you have to take him with you” she said with a snicker. 

He asked where the leash was and attached it to the collar and walked out the front door. He was going to walk until Duke was tired, and then he would carry him home. He knew he needed to take a long walk to sort things out and to clear his head. He walked down the driveway and out the gate, along the road, and into the forest that was a block from his house. And then he was out of sight from anyone, and he could finally be alone with his thoughts, and his dog.


	7. chapter 7

A few weeks had passed since Felicity had broken up with Ray. She was happy about it, how could she not? The love of her life was back. She thought back to her conversation with Thea about what she needed to do and after that, Moira was her next stop. 

. . .

She had just left Thea’s room when she heard the front door close. She didn’t see who was leaving, but she was on a mission. She needed to tell Moira the good news, and find out what she should do next. 

As she walked into the kitchen she was surprised to see Duke wasn’t on Moira’s lap like every other morning. But he was probably out running around in the garden. She walked to the coffee pot, poured herself a massive cup and sat down with Moira and Walter. She and Walter exchanged pleasantries when she asked to speak to the older woman, alone. Walter was quick to oblige, knowing full well what the conversation was going to be about. With a quick kiss to Moira’s cheek he took his leave. 

“so, I need to tell you something. Its more of a statement really, but I am super nervous and then I need to ask you a question after” she stated bringing her coffee cup to her lips. 

“of course dear, what is it that you need to talk to me about?” the older woman asked with a glimmer in her eye. 

“so I had a talk with Oliver this morning. And Ray had called me and basically told me to stay away from him, to which I replied no, in the kindest way I possibly could at that moment. Oliver had asked me what I wanted to do now that he was back and he said that I should take my time to decide. But you know that I would leave anyone for a chance to be with him again. So I talked to Thea, well more like she grabbed me and forced me to talk after she saw something early this morning, which apparently you two had a bet about… but that is beside the point. And after we talked I called Ray and broke up with him. He just kept yelling at me, and I ended up hanging up on him. So now that that is out in the open, my question is, what do I do now?” she asked gasping for a breath  
“oh honey, you did the right thing. You weren’t half as happy with Ray as I know you can be. I was supportive regardless, because we all thought he would never come back to us. I am so glad you were open with your feelings and told him now before it was too late. And what do we do now, hrm, well I will get my assistant to cancel all wedding related items, and get her to draft a statement for the newspaper. I will contact the PR department and get them to issue a statement as soon as humanly possible and get it out there so he can’t slander you. Is that alright dear?” 

“yes, thank you Moira. You have always treated me like one of your own, and I know I am the CEO, but this sort of thing is just beyond my capabilities. Thank you again.” She said to the older woman while finishing her coffee.

“oh and Moira, where’s Duke?”

“Oliver found him this morning, and said the magic word, so he ended up taking him for a walk. I’m sure he will be home soon”

. . .

But again that was a few weeks ago, and she had yet to have a real conversation with Oliver. He told her to take some time, but she was done waiting. Why couldn’t he see that. She would sneak into his bedroom, just to have a private conversation. But every time she did he would say he was going to the gym, or a walk, or a run, or he had to meet Tommy. Which she knew was a load of crap because he never partied or went out anymore and spent all of his free time at home with his wife and kid. He would just disappear any time she would get close to him. She knew full well that he knew about the break up and yet still nothing. Why was he pushing her away? 

That night she came up with plan. A devious plan, a plan that could totally backfire with in her face and leave her broken. Leave her alone. But she was sick of Oliver’s behavior and this was the only way she knew how to get to him and how him how she really felt. She was nervous, but she put the plan in motion. Starting with Moira and Walter. She asked them if they could please give them the mansion for the night, in which they both agreed without wanting details. Then she went to Raisa and asked her to call the handyman to change the lock on Oliver’s bedroom door. She also told Raisa to take the night off, but to be on call and wait for a code from Felicity to unlock said door when she asked. Raisa agreed full knowing what was going to be happening. 

Oliver had gone out for a run earlier that evening around 7pm. He had returned just after 9. He went into the kitchen and saw a note on the fresh coffee pot. 

‘you are going to need this for the night I have planned’ the note said. 

Puzzled, he grabbed the coffee pot, and on the back there was another note.

‘bring me to your bedroom’

He was weary now. Why did he need to bring a whole coffee pot up to his bedroom? Where was everyone he wondered? It was Sunday night and typically that meant after dinner everyone would be in the living room watching a movie together. But tonight he didn’t hear anyone. It was actually eerily. He thought, to hell with it, ill go up there and see what Thea has planned. Maybe she wants me to stay up and watch movies all night with her. 

He made his way up the stairs and towards his bedroom. The door was cracked open just slightly that he could see light pouring through. He took a few steps through the door and placed the coffee pot on the dresser under his TV. As soon as it was placed, the door to his bedroom slammed shut and was locked. He turned around ready to fight back, when he noticed he was still alone. The knob on his door was changed. He jiggled the handle only to realize that it was locked from the outside. 

His eyes darted around the room, until she walked out of the bathroom. In that moment he knew she had planned this and he was stuck in here until she gave the word to open the door. He had to talk to her now. He was being forced to. He was not looking forward to what was going to happen, until he noticed what she was wearing. 

Felicity was in a deep green, almost emerald coloured baby doll night gown that came just below her bum. She had her hair up in a messy bun and was wearing her contacts. That outfit used to be his favorite. He always had a thing for green, especially when she wore it. 

She walked towards him and wrapped one hand around torso, and one around his neck. She pulled his head down towards her

“So, I bet you have figured out why I had us locked in here. But if not let me show you” she said coyly 

She reached her mouth up to his ear lobe and grabbed it between her teeth, his body shuddering as she started flicking it with her tongue. He was still in shock when she grabbed the hem of his t-shirt and started pulling it up and above his head. He had subconsciously raised his arms in anticipation. She pulled away and ran her hands down his chest, noting his scars. She didn’t care though; to her he was still beautiful. 

She leaned against him and grabbed the back of his head and pulled him closer to her again. This time he grabbed her back. His hands were tightly around her waist, sliding down to the top of her ass. She looked up into his crystal clear blue eyes.

“Oliver, I missed you. And this silent treatment and staying away from me stops now” she said sternly. “So tonight, we are going to make love, and tomorrow we will talk. But I need you to know something first ok?” 

He nodded in acceptance. Completely taken aback by what she had in store for him.

“I love you Oliver Jonas Queen. As long as were alive, there will only be us” she said while her face got closer to his. 

“I love you too Felicity Megan Smoak”

He couldn’t hold out any longer. He bent down, grabbed her by the waist and started kissing her. Passionately, full of lust, and she kissed him back. She was desperate to have him again, to make him hers. He was needing his true love back. And without saying another word he walked them over to the bed and gently placed her on it.


	8. chapter 8

Oliver awoke the next morning to the sun shining through his bedroom window. He felt a hand on his stomach and turned to see Felicity still sleeping, a massive smile came across his face. He wanted to get up early this morning to go for a run, but seeing her laying naked next to him was all he cared about. He was so happy with how the previous evening had gone. He had finally been able to be with her again. But he remembered that today they were to talk. 

He wasn’t nervous, he was just a little weary at what they were going to talk about. He sat laying in bed going over so many options in his head. Did she want to start dating again and see where it went? Or did she want to pick up right back where they left off. Move in together, be engaged? Or did she want to get married right away and waste no more time? He wasn’t sure if the latter was the best option, he had changed while he was on the island. It may take him some time to become the man that she wanted and needed. He still wanted to marry her and have a house, and children with her. But not just yet. He wanted to have some fun. He wanted to woo her. 

But as he laid there, her arm still atop of his stomach, he could smell her shampoo. God how he missed that smell. He thought up a plan. He was going to win her back. He knew he didn’t need to do that. He knew that if he were to just say let’s get married she would, but he wanted to win her heart over again just as he did in high school. But this time would be different. He was just a kid then. With nervousness and doubt that she had felt the same. No, this time he was confident and he knew exactly what he needed to do.

 

Felicity had woken up to a rustling noise in the bathroom. ‘oh shit’, she hadn’t told anyone to come unlock the door. She sent out a quick text to Raisa that the mission was complete. Turning over to look towards the bathroom door she saw Oliver getting ready. Looking like he had just showered and getting changed. That was always her favorite time of the morning. Watching him put on his suit and helping him with his tie. But this morning was different. He was putting on a pair of jeans, and a t-shirt that hugged his muscles. She could get used to this she said to herself. 

“sorry, what could you get used to?” Oliver said while walking back to the bedroom

“oh, um you heard that did you….. well I was thinking about watching you change” she said shyly.

“well my love” placing a kiss upon her cheek. “you can watch me change anytime you want to” he said with a wink.

He walked towards the bedroom door as Felicity was jumping out of bed to use the shower. He turned towards her, taking in her curves. 

“Now, this, I could get used to this” he said devilishly

She just let out a meep, and ran into the bathroom closing the door. She was turning on the shower when she heard a knock. She slowly opened it and of course it was Oliver. He pushed his face through the door and gave her kiss and told her he would be in the kitchen waiting for her. She shut the door and began to shower. 

She was thinking about what she was going to do for the talk she wanted to have. Last night was perfect and she knew she wasn’t ever letting him go again. But she hadn’t planned as far ahead as she thought. Would he just want to date her and take it slow? Or would he want to move in right away and be engaged right away? Or would he want to go get married right away? She was nervous about what he would want. But saying all of those choices, she decided she wanted to date him, and have fun before they jumped back into the whole, get married and have babies thing. Not that that was a bad thing. She wanted that, just not yet. She wanted to be wooed.

. . .

Oliver had secretly been sending flowers to Felicity during her last class every Friday for 3 months after he had met her. He was just a few doors down from her and he could see when the delivery guy came to drop them off. He would also hear everyone screech and yell about them. He had an inside source in that classroom. Her name was Sara. He was so sneaky about having her on his side that people actually thought they were dating. Sara on the other hand was not interested in his type. You know the one, male.

So to them it was hilarious. But that afternoon Sara had called Oliver in tears. He asked her what was wrong, when she let it all out. Turned out Felicity had seen them sneaking around and she got mad at Sara. Sara was supposed to be dating a girl from one of the other High Schools and Felicity didn’t find it very funny she was cheating on her so she had reamed Sara out in the hall after school. 

Oliver was struck with so much guilt he told Sara they would stop the sneaking and he would talk to Felicity. He didn’t know exactly what he was going to say. How did he tell her he was the admirer and how did he tell her he was only waiting till graduation? He had to think of something quick. 

He had gone to Felicity’s house to set her straight when he saw her at her front door crying. He pulled into her driveway and got out of the car. He walked up towards her and hugged her. He had asked her why she was crying, he thought it was to do with the fight she had with Sara. She said It was about a guy she liked, and he liked someone else. At first he was mad. Like really mad. He asked her who it was and he would have a talking to him. She told him to forget about it, and that he was way out of her league anyways so its probably for the best. He couldn’t believe that his little angel was saying that. Who could ever not love her and what to be with her. 

He wanted to tell her it was him sending the flowers but if she was upset like this, he wasn’t sure how she would have taken it. He just let her cry on his shoulder and wrapped his arms around her on the front porch.

. . .

That Friday, Felicity had received a beautiful bouquet of pink Stargazer Lilies. They were so beautiful. She knew they had to have been from Oliver, but there was no card. She called her EA Bonnie and asked if there was a card, she stated there was not. 

Either way she knew they had to have been from Oliver. They had decided early that week they would start dating and start slow. Even though Sunday night was anything but. 

Tomorrow was her first official date with Oliver. Well second, first official date. He wouldn’t tell her where he was taking her, only to dress casual. So as she sat at her desk she went through an app she had developed that had pictures of all of her clothing, all of her shoes and accessories, tons of hair styles and her signature make up and they would all be placed on a virtual version of her. It was so much easier than picking things out in the moment. She even planned out her weekly wardrobe every Sunday, she even had tabs for rain, sun, cold, hot and every piece of clothing was tagged with season and material. 

She sat at her desk almost done putting the touches on her outfit for the date when an alert on her phone sounded. Then her computer. Then her tablet. Bonnie had rushed in and was talking a mile a minute, and all Felicity could get out of it was ‘attack, again, omg’

From that she looked at her computer and sure as hell, someone was trying to hack into the QC mainframe again. This time though, she was going to stop it. She told Bonnie to get her the biggest cup of coffee she could find, and go out and get a coffee machine for her office. She was going to be there a while. 

4 hours after the start of the cyber attack Moira and Walter had come to check on the progress. Every time she would shut him out he would get back in. She kept trying to lock him out for good. She even took the entire QC mainframe offline, but somehow he had still gotten through. If he was able to get through without outside access, then he had to be in the building. That is what she had told Moira and Walter. 

She was typing as fast as she could while telling Walter to announce protocol 20. Protocol 20 was an immediate shut down of every computer and tablet, phone, really anything that could have internet access except for her office. Her computer, tablet and phone were the only ones that were allowed to be left on because she would be the one to stop it. Protocol 20 also stated that the building was to be locked down and all access cards except for her own, and a select few within the building were to be disabled so no one could leave before a thorough investigation was done. 

QC had a contract with a secret military organization, and it needed to stay that way. Only department heads, and the board knew what it was, along with a select few at Palmer Tech, Merlyn Global and Wayne Enterprises. They had been working on a top secret weapon to take out all communications in an entire city to be used for attacks on areas with high traffic of terrorism. They didn’t tell the press that, because they didn’t need to have the military arrest them for treason for spilling government secrets. There were no blue prints actually taken from any of the companies that night of the first attack, that was just a cover story that they developed in order to take eyes off of what was really happening. 

And what was really happening was that someone was trying to steal all the code for particular tech that she herself had written and kept on a secure mainframe inside her office. Felicity was so deep in thought she didn’t even realize that Moira was on the phone with someone till she had hung up. 

“Felicity, that was Lyla Diggle, she and her team will be here in 5 mins to sweep the building and start going through the computers in the server room”

Felicity nodded. She knew she should speak, at least say thank you, but she couldn’t get this guy to stop. The only way for him to stop was for her to unplug her mainframe so he couldn’t access it any longer. She knew he would have to be inside the building but the computers weren’t shutting down fast enough for her. Each department was shut off on a timer. And every 30 seconds they would shut down the next on the list. The IT department would be shut down last. And as she tried to keep up with how fast he was going, it stopped. She looked at her clock, it had been the exact timeframe for the IT department to be shut down. 

She flew up in her chair, grabbing her phone to call Lyla.

“Lyla, Its Felicity, he is in the IT department. Well it might be a woman I don’t know. All I know is they were trying to steal my code, and then it went dead at the exact time that department would be shut down. Ill be in my office, come meet me once you are done”

And with that she hung up the phone, pacing back and forth between Moira and Walter. 

“Felicity honey, take a deep breath. We will catch whom ever is doing this. They wont get far” Moira said trying to sound hopeful. 

Felicity just kept pacing. She knew she shouldn’t, but she was mad. It was right before the day was to be ending so everyone would still be in the building. 1800 employees, 150 either out sick, on vacation or on a day off. This is going to be a long night she said to herself while taking a sip of her coffee.


	9. chapter 9

Oliver was sitting in the kitchen talking with Raisa while she prepared dinner. She was making her famous Macaroni and cheese with Jalapenos. It was always one of Oliver’s Favorites. He was reading the newspaper day dreaming about his date with Felicity the next day. He was also wondering if she was freaking out about the flowers. He had received a text stating they had been delivered, and knowing her she would be wondering and calling people asking about a card. Which he had purposely not sent with them. 

Raisa was just about finished with the pasta before tossing it in the cheese sauce to bake, when he saw the show she was watching flip over to the news. Oliver got up and grabbed the remote from the island and turned it up. 

Queen Consolidated was in the background and it looked as though military men were going inside. He was about to call Felicity, when the News Anchor broke his thought. 

“at 12:30 this afternoon there seems to have been yet another cyber attack on Queen Consolidated. It is yet to be confirmed, but the building has been put on lockdown until further notice. There has been no communication with the outside world, and sources say the building was put on a complete shut down. We take you live to special correspondent Sophie, for more details”

“Hi Grant, yes it does appear that the entire building has been put on lockdown. No one in or out. But we are seeing a heavy presence of what appears to be military personnel breaking through the front door. Sources tell us it is only a cyber breach, but this appears to be much more than that”

A loud bang is heard from the background

“Sophie can you see and tell us what that loud bang was?”

“Grant, it looks like soldiers have gotten through the door and are moving inside of the building. They are setting up a perimeter around the front steps and pushing everyone back. I think it might be safe to say, with seeing this heavy of a military presence that it was not just a cyber attack. But at this time we are still uncertain. Back you Grant”

“Well folks, if you are just tuning in….” The voice trailed off as Oliver left the kitchen.

All he knows is that he needs to get a hold of someone, anyone who knows what is going on. His first call is to Felicity. Fuck, straight to voice mail. He tries Moira, straight to voice mail. Next Walter. Again straight to voicemail. They must have gone to the office today. He then calls Tommy. After a few rings he picks up. 

“Hey, ya I know its crazy. Were trying everything we can do on our side to help them” Tommy says quickly. 

“So Tommy, do you know what is going on? Last time they were hacked you were all hacked weren’t you?” 

“Ya man. It was fucking ridiculous. All I know is that it is the same thing, if not worse, and that Felicity has initiated protocol 20. And that is NOT good” Oliver can hear the stress in his voice

“what do you mean its not good? What does that mean? And what the hell is protocol 20?”

“well basically it is every electronic device in the entire building is to be turned off except her computer and all doors are to be sealed until they do a search and check of everything”

“WHAT!? So you are saying this in internal?? There is someone in the building with her doing this…” he trails off realizing Tommy’s explanation of protocol 20. He needs to email her, skype her, anything to know she is alright. “Hey buddy I’m going to go. I’m sure you are super busy and I need to try to contact her so call me later once this thing has settled down alright?” 

“Ya no worries man, make sure your woman is ok. Talk to you later” with that Oliver hung up the phone. 

He went into his email and started typing his message to her. 

Hey, I saw on the news what is happening. Please tell me you are ok. Are mom and Walter with you? I love you Felicity please be safe – Love Oliver

He had only hit send, he swears 30 seconds ago when his phone flashed and an email popped up.

Oliver, I am alright. Moira and Walter are here in my office. I will explain everything later. – Love Felicity

Ok, so now that he knew she was safe, he needed to figure out how he could help. He just didn’t know how. The people he loved were in his family’s building being attacked from the inside, he was helpless. He couldn’t sit around and wait for them to come home. He needed to go there, do something. But he had no clue what to do. Maybe he was better staying at home. They wouldn’t let him anywhere near downtown, so he had to sit there and wait. And he did not like feeling helpless. 

 

It was getting late. A.R.G.U.S had only swept three quarters of the building while a team was going through every computer, tablet and phone in the IT department. So far nothing had turned up. After searching each department and person, and doing a quick check of all devices the employees were escorted out the front door and sent home. Felicity had made an announcement a few hours earlier stating that all employees trapped in the building were to be given Monday off, and payed overtime for as many hours as they were there until sent home. 

QC was typically closed on Saturday and Sunday with only the IT department working to make sure nothing severe happened before everyone returned each Monday morning. When Felicity was put in charge, she had put that in effect starting immediately, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Staying home on weekends and being with their families, and loved ones. There were 5 sets of IT workers. Casual, to be called in when they needed coverage, due to sick days. Weekday and weeknight employees who had weekends off, and weekend staff half on day shift and half on night shift. There were also security guards posted at the front entrance 24/7. 

How could someone get past all of the security in the building and walk up to the IT department and just hook up a computer and start hacking them? They couldn’t. So it had to be one of the employees. With her computer being the only one online she started looking through her personnel files until a name popped up. His name. A name she never thought she would ever see again. 

Noah Cutler was the best hacker on the east coast, probably the entire country. He was also her father. Years ago he had left her and her mother when she was just 7 years old, and she had not seen him since. She had heard about his hacks on the news and read about them online. But how could he have gotten past all the security checks and gotten a job here? She noticed his hire date. 

Noah Cutler had been working for QC for 10 years. How had she never seen his name before, how had she never seen him. She went down to the IT department almost daily and she never once saw him. It had to be a mistake. Or maybe it was someone else who had the same name. Well fuck, like that would happen. 

She turned to Moira and Walter and told them who she thought it was. She gave a brief history to them about why she was scared it was him. 

Felicity grabbed her phone and called Lyla Diggle. Lyla was the head of A.R.G.U.S and she knew she could trust her with anything, even her life. She knew once she had told Lyla about her father, she would rush in to find him. 

So she did. She told her everything. 

Lyla called Felicity back and told her they got him and they were taking him to headquarters for questioning. Felicity agreed, as she never wanted to see him or speak to him personally. Lyla had her team check his computer and tablet and sure enough there it was. All the code to hack into the mainframe. Every single line of it, and there was Felicity’s. They had their man. Now they just needed to find out why he was doing this. 

It was a little past 1 am when the last of the QC employees were sent home. Felicity, being CEO was the last to leave with Moira and Walter. After the day they had had, Moira knew Felicity wouldn’t want to go home to an empty house and offered her to come back with them. She knew Oliver would be worried sick so she agreed. 

Thea had gone on a 2-month trip with her boyfriend Roy as an anniversary getaway. They had been officially dating for exactly 5 years, so Thea wanted to surprise him with a trip across Europe. There was still a month left in her trip and Felicity had been staying at the Queen Mansion more than usual, so she knew it wasn’t a bother. 

The three of them had just walked through the door when Oliver ran to them, engulfing Felicity in a hug. He kissed her forehead, then her lips. Moira and Walter had excused themselves to turn in for the night. He was holding her in his arms when she finally spoke.

“Oliver, I think we need to go upstairs so I can tell you everything” she said almost painfully.

He didn’t say a word. He just took her hand and led her upstairs and into his room. He knew she was exhausted, but he needed to know why this was happening. So he closed the door behind him. And as the door was fully closed and locked, she began to tell him the entire story. From the very beginning. 

She told him about A.R.G.U.S, she told him that QC, Palmer Tech, Merlyn Global and Wayne Enterprises were all contracted by them to build something. She told them they were all skeptical at first. It was Ray who had said that everything was fine, and that they would be helping their country. She told him how it was her father who had hacked them. How he had been hidden in plain sight right beneath her. She just kept talking. Telling everything. Answering every question he asked, until they realized the sun was coming up. They had been talking for 5 hours. 

Enough was enough. He wasn’t mad at her. He probably would have made the same call. But it was time for them to sleep. To put this past them and move on. He got up briefly to grab her the pair of cupcake pyjamas she had kept in his closet when he came out to find her sleeping. She was sprawled out diagonally across the bed, her head at the foot, her feet on her pillow on top of the covers. He grabbed the throw that was on a chair in the corner of his room and put it over her. He could do without blankets; he really didn’t need them. He had been so long without them he sometimes preferred it. What he did need though was to cuddle up behind her and fall asleep knowing she was safe. And that was exactly what he did. 

They woke up the next morning to birds chirping outside his window and scratching at the door. Oliver slowly got up from the bed to let in Duke. The dog jumped up on the bed and cuddled into Felicity’s stomach as she reached to pet him. The only thing going through Oliver’s mind at that moment was how his family was back together and how nothing was going to rip it apart this time. He knew what he had to do. 

. . .

Monday morning

Oliver had gotten up on Monday morning after having the most amazing night with Felicity. They were going to have their talk and he was going to ask to date her. So once she had come downstairs for breakfast and get her coffee he had a plan. 

“good morning Sleepy head” he said to her

“ugh, good morning. Why couldn’t we just stay in bed longer? Its too early, and I already took the day off because I knew last night was going to end late, very late” she said coyly. 

“yes it did end very late. And I am so happy about that. You know, that thing you did with your….” He was cut off

“Oliver! Not in the kitchen. Omg, I don’t want anyone to hear about that. But I am glad you enjoyed it” she smirked

“so Ms. CEO what did you have planned for us today? A repeat of last night? Or are we finally going to have that talk you so desperately want?” he said sounding playful

“well, I think maybe we need to talk about what we both want going forward. As glad as I am about last night, and clearly seeing how it was me that initiated it, I think we just need to slow that part down for now. Not that I don’t want that to ever happen again, I really really do, I just think we need to….”

“Date” they said together

“Oh Oliver, I am so happy to hear you say that. I was so worried you would be mad that I wanted to date you”

“Felicity, I could never be mad at you for wanting to take it slow” he said with a sigh “ I just want you to know I love you and I will do whatever it takes to be with you again. And if that means dating again for 7 years, I will”

“Oh, hold up there mister. There will be none of this 7 years bull shit” she laughed “we obviously want to be together and still love each other, so I’m thinking like 6 months tops of dating” she said nervously

“Whatever you say Felicity” leaning down to kiss her temple. “I just need to go run a quick errand and I will be back around lunch, is that ok?”

“Oh yes go, I think I’m going to head home for a while and maybe clean up and get some clothes sorted and do laundry. So take your time”

With that Oliver had left the kitchen and was already out the front door placing a call on his cell phone. 

“Hi, mom, can you tell me what happened to Felicity’s ring?”

. . .

Tonight was his date with Felicity, he was somewhat nervous. He still hadn’t fully planned it out. He knew he was going to take her for ice cream, maybe a movie. But after being gone for so long he wasn’t sure if she liked the same ones. Maybe he would take her for burgers and ice cream then bring her here to watch a movie in the theatre room. Ya that’s what he was going to do. He picked his phone out of his pocket and sent a text to Thea, who was still in Europe.

Hey speedy, what’s Felicity’s fave movie? – O

Hey big bro, ya I’m having tons of fun over here thanks for asking LOL. It’s The Princess Bride cuz well you should know. – T

Thanks Speedy. Enjoy the rest of your trip we will talk lots when you get home – O

Of course it would be the Princess Bride, how could it not be. He was killed at sea, she was marrying another, and then he came back into her life. It was fitting really. He laughed to himself at thinking how true this really was in their situation and then decided he would take her out, and bring her back here to watch her favorite movie.


	10. chapter 10

Dinner had gone amazingly well. Even though he had only taken her out for burgers at a local place that was recommended called Big Belly Burger, which coincidentally was Felicity’s favorite place to eat. They chatted and shared a side of fries, planning their next date. He was so happy to be doing things like this with her again. They had left triple B, as Felicity liked to call it, and were walking towards the ice cream shop that had her favorite mint chocolate chip ice cream when a car pulled up beside them. 

They hadn’t noticed the car at first because they were lost in conversation, until it had pulled in front of them. Oliver grabbed Felicity’s arm and pulled her behind him. He was ready for a fight. He was not ready for who came out of the car.

A small brunette woman, maybe mid 30’s with short wavy hair stepped out and closed the door. The car pulled away and drove off. Oliver was still trying to shield Felicity.

“Lyla?” 

“Hi Ms. Smoak. I am sorry to have to do this to you, but I need you to come with me to headquarters” Lyla didn’t care that Oliver was standing there, she assumed Felicity had told him everything, and seeing how it was his family’s company he deserved to know what was going on. 

“Oh, Oliver, this is Lyla Diggle. I told you about her organization last night. She was the one who was able to arrest my fath…. Um the employee that hacked me” she felt awkward calling him her father. It felt wrong. He had been gone so long he didn’t deserve to be called that. 

“Yes, I remember” reaching his hand out “It is nice to meet you Ms. Diggle”

“Its Mrs. Diggle actually. But it is nice to meet you too” she said in a friendly manner. “so Felicity, I need to bring you to the office to see if you can get anything out of Mr. Cutler. I understand if you don’t want to do that, I would just like to try. He hasn’t said one word to us the entire time”

“I understand Lyla; I honestly don’t think I will be able to help. You know me and my rambling, I will probably start talking and going off about how he left us all those years ago, and I really don’t want to think about that right now. But if there is anything I can do without being there I will. Just let me know”

“I will, and thank you for thinking about it Felicity. I will be in touch shortly” Lyla walked off toward the opposite side of the street where the car had pulled over to let her in.

As much as Felicity wanted to continue this date, she needed to dig more into her… into Noah, to find out who had put him up to this or if it was his doing. She was sure he had been paid to do a job because why would he want to take out an entire city? She really didn’t want to think of the answer. Any ‘real’ hacker would never want to wipe out the only thing that would allow them to connect with their groups or targets.

Turning to Oliver she let out a sigh “I think it is safe to say this date is over. I know that really sucks and I am so sorry, I just need to get to my office and try to back track and trace everything he had done before the attack. I really hope you understand” 

“Of course I understand; we will have the rest of our lives to have nights like tonight. So how about I take you to your office and I stay with you as long as you want me to?” 

“That would be great! I must warn you, I can become quite the bitch when I’m hacking so I apologize now for any mean or hurtful things that comes out of my mouth” they both chuckled.

He had seen her hack before, he thought it was cute how she would get so worked up and lose her shit. She had snapped at him many times before, and after the first couple times he had realized when she snapped like that, all he needed to do was bring her hot cup of coffee and she would be ok. 

So he took her to Queen Consolidated and sat with her in the office while she searched and tracked whatever it was she was searching for. He brought her coffee when she snapped, and one time he asked a question about what she was doing she had yelled at him to stop being such a pig headed llama’s ass. He had no idea what that even meant, but he laughed and got her another cup of coffee. He liked doing that because when he would put it down she would kiss his arm and then take a sip and go right back to what she was doing. 

They had been at QC for 3 hours, it was only 11:30 on that Saturday night, so he knew that Tommy would be awake. So he pulled out his phone and sent him a text.

Hey buddy you awake? – O  
Ya man, what’s up? – T  
Wait how did your date go? -T  
Well it was going great. We had just left dinner when Lyla showed up – O  
Dude that’s not good, what did she say? – T  
That Noah wasn’t talking and she asked Felicity to come help. She said no of course and then Lyla left. – O  
You know her and Lyla are friends right? If it were any other person she would have made them get in the car and do it. What are you doing now? Is Felicity sitting at her desk being the hacking wizard? -T  
She is. She is pretty remarkable. – O  
That she is, you should tell her that, I’m sure she would love it – T

Oliver was just about to text back when he heard her yelp. He quickly looked up to see that she was standing, with her hand over her mouth. 

“Hey what’s wrong? What did you find?” he asked with concern

“Um, I traced some emails I found on his private account and it went back to Palmer Tech. He has been emailing and setting this whole hack up with someone at the company for months now. It has details about our meetings with Lyla, and A.R.G.U.S and even information that was told to Laurel” 

“Ok what do you want me to do, what do we need to do?” 

“Well I need you to start calling your mom and Walter, and ill call Tommy and Wayne. They need to get down here as soon as possible. And Wayne is in Central City right now for some benefit so he shouldn’t take too long”

“ok ill get on the phone with them and tell them to get over here. This may be a stupid question, but why are we not calling Ray?” he asked nervously

“I think Ray is behind this. He asked about a merger a few days before you got back, and Thea had told me she thinks that why he asked me to marry him, so he could get a hold of QC and eventually control all of Starling city”

“Ok, um were you going to do that?”

“Oliver! Call your mother, we will talk about this another time. And to answer you in the simplest way, no I was not”

“Ok I’m calling her now”

“Thank you” sounding more frustrated than she anticipated 

Oliver had called his mother and Walter; they were on there way. Tommy and Laurel and been told and were dropping Olivia off at Sara and Nyssa’s. Felicity had called Wayne and he was already half out the door of the hall where the benefit was being held, mainly because he knew she would only call him if it had something to do with the project, or something terrible had happened. 

An hour later everyone walked into Felicity’s office and were told of what was happening. There were arguments and yelling between the partners and trying to put the blame on each other, instead of Ray. Bruce had said that everyone of them, including himself was to be blamed, they had listened to Ray instead of deciding on their own, and if anything happened they could only blame themselves. 

They had all agreed with Bruce and started to calm down so that they could all speak to each other without freaking out. 

“Ms. Smoak, how do you think we should handle this?” Bruce asked “You were engaged to him for 2 years before you broke it off, so was there any inkling or concern you had towards the project before he made you, and all of us agree to it?”

“I did have some concerns, but he showed me the data that evening and it all looked good. We all had specific roles to play in this, and my code would be the one to either finish it or bring it down”

Oliver couldn’t help but feel so helpless, he had no idea what each company was doing for the project, he was never there for the agreement to take this on, he sure as hell would have talked them out of doing this if he knew that this would be happening right now. All he wanted to do was take Felicity into his arms and tell her it was alright. But she was in CEO mode and he just had to sit at the back of the room and listen. He had no part in joining the conversation or giving his own opinion. 

“so what you are telling us, is that without your code, he can’t do anything. He can’t finish it, or deploy it?” Moira asked with hope

“Yes, that is what I am saying. I have sent the emails to Lyla and instructed her on how to deal with Ray, and that I will be getting rid of any trace of code I have and that we are done with this project. We do not need someone else trying to steal it, or anyone using it. Not even A.R.G.U.S. Lyla understood. She told me, and all of us to do what needed to be done” Felicity said confidently

“Ok we know what we need to do then” Tommy said “Laurel I need to get rid of any documents that we have on this project, I know Lyla will keep her copies but we are going to shred ours. Wayne, call Lucius and tell him to scrap everything you have made and all paperwork as well. I will go to my office and personally see to it that everything is destroyed. Felicity, you know what you need to do” Pointing to her computer. 

As Felicity started typing and deleting code, a text popped up on her phone, the room fell silent. 

We got him. He was in his apartment with a home made device. He was actually trying to hack his way into your system as we got there. So have all the proof we need. – Lyla

“Well what did it say?” Oliver asked nervously while walking towards her desk. 

Felicity read the text aloud so everyone could hear. Cheers erupted in the room. But Felicity sank back into her chair. Oliver took notice. 

“Hey. What’s wrong? You got him”

“I know I… we did. I just can’t believe that I went along with his plan, and I was going to marry someone who was capable of doing such a thing. I was so stupid. I thought he really loved me. But he was just using me for the company and my talents. I was so dumb” she let out a tear

Oliver quickly grabbed her, placed a kiss on her temple and hugged her. He gestured to his mother, and he rounded everyone up to leave. Once the door to her office was shut she pulled away from him. 

“Thank you. Thank you for all your support and help, and just being there for me. I know you haven’t been home long but I want you know I appreciate everything you have done for me” she managed to get out with a shaky voice

“Hey, you never, never have to thank me” he said with a small smile. He leaned in and kissed her, a small peck on lips. “I think its time we go home. How about when we get there I will get you a huge glass of wine and run a bath for you ok?”

“Oh that sounds amazing. But, only if you join me” as she winked at him


	11. chapter 11

5 months later

Oliver had been sending flowers to Felicity for 5 months, and she still hadn’t said anything to him about them. He still hadn’t left a card with them. After the whole fiasco with Ray and the project, everything seemed to have settled down and they had dated very successfully after that. He had moved in with her to her townhouse, Duke was now back with them being extremely well behaved. Thea had moved out once she got back from Europe with Roy and was living with him and they had gotten engaged. 

He was happy for his little sister, but he was still cautious about the relationship because she was still so young. Thea had told him they were going to wait many years before getting married so he had nothing to worry about. Everything seemed perfect, and tonight’s date was going to be a special one.

. . .

“Hi, mom, can you tell me what happened to Felicity’s ring?”

“Oh hi honey. Why do you ask?”

“well, I just want to know so that when the time comes I can give it back to her. I want to be able to have it now to hold onto”

“that is a wonderful idea. About a year after you disappeared she came to me and asked me to put it back in the vault for safe keeping. I think it was more to do with it reminding her of heart ache, but I did what I asked. I am actually on my way there now to grab some earrings for a fundraiser tonight. Would you like me to bring it home for you?”

“YES! Thank you. I would just like to have it here with me until I feel it is the right time”

“ok dear, I will see you in about an hour”

. . .

Felicity had received the most beautiful bouquet of red roses. She normally hated roses, but today felt different. She and Oliver had gotten back to the way things were before the accident, and she had never been happier. For some reason all she kept thinking about today was how he had asked her to marry him the first time. 

He had rented out an entire restaurant on New Years Eve. There was a champagne bottle in an ice chest beside the table. The lights were dimmed low, and the food was already on the table. It had been 5 course meal with chocolate soufflé and a grand marnier fancy coffee with loads of whip. He had told her how much he loved her and couldn’t wait to spend the rest of his life with her, when something had caught her eye. It was a massive ring, right on top of her soufflé. 

Why of all days was she thinking about that today? She had thought about it before, sure, but not this much in one day. She was about to leave for the day when her EA Bonnie handed her a card. 

“Ms. Smoak this came with flowers with an instruction to give it to you as you were leaving”

“Thank you Bonnie. Have a good weekend. See you Monday” 

Felicity opened the card

You would think after all these months sending you flowers, you would have at least mentioned them

She let out a laugh. Then she noticed another card inside the small envelope

Ps. I was the one who sent you flowers in high school

She had a hunch that it had been him. But she wasn’t sure. She remembered how she got flowers every Friday and how secretive Sara and Oliver were. How she got mad at Sara, how she told Oliver she liked someone but they liked didn’t like her. It all made sense now. Sara had been trying to get them together the whole time. How could she have been so dumb. She shook her head while walking to her car in the underground while laughing to herself. 

All Felicity wanted to do was get home, have a shower and get ready for her date. She had even left the office a couple hours earlier than usual. Something caught her eye while she was almost at her car. 

A town car had pulled up and the driver had gotten out. Reached out his hand and asked her to come with him. He stated that Mr. Queen had ordered the car service for her and was to take here wherever she wanted to go. She was stunned. She was only going home; she didn’t need a town car. She got into the back seat and sitting there, was Thea, massive smile on her face. 

“I was told I could go wherever I wanted, but I see that wont be the case” she let out a small giggle

“You are correct. Oliver asked me to help get you ready for tonight. He said he wanted it to be a night you would never forget”

“hmm, well then. Where to first?”

Felicity just knew to go along with whatever Thea and Oliver had planned. There were many times in the past he would send a limo or car before a date and take her to a spa, or to get a certain outfit he had picked out. So it didn’t seem weird to her. It actually seemed quite normal. 

“First stop the spa. Were going to get you a massage, and then a nice mani pedi that I have already picked out the colours for. Then while you are there you will get your hair and make up done” the brunette said excitedly.

As the girls pulled up to the spa the driver stepped out and walked them to the door. Thea marched up to the front desk.

“Queen for 2” 

“Right this way, your room is ready Ms. Queen, Ms. Smoak” the redhead at the front desk then took them to a private room at the back of the spa. There were 2 massage tables side by side, 2 reclining chairs and a changing room off to the side. Felicity had been in this room before many times, always with Thea. They had many girls days here over the last 5 years and Thea would always bring her here before an event or holiday. 

A couple of hours had passed and they were just starting on make up. The girls were offered a glass of champagne to which Felicity passed on.

“Um, Lis, you never turn down champagne. OMG you’re pregnant aren’t you?” she squealed

“No I’m not pregnant I just don’t want to get drunk before the date that’s all” she said nervously

“uh huh, sure. Whatever but when I do find out you are pregnant I’m totally gonna tell everyone I knew first”

“whatever you say” she laughed but felt she needed to change the subject “Thea that massage was heavenly. I really want to come here everyday and have that done. And the colour you picked out for my nail polish. LOVE IT! What made you pick that colour?” she asked 

“well, it will go perfect with the dress I bought for you earlier today” she said smirking at the blonde

“oh you bought me a dress did you? Well what does it look like?”

“you will have to wait till your hair is done, but I brought it here so you can get ready and then go straight to your date”

“wow, you have thought of everything haven’t you….so I’m sure Oliver has told you about this date, so spill it speedy”

“my lips are sealed. Lets just say you will be extremely happy”

While Felicity was at work earlier that day Oliver was putting the finishing touches on his date with her tonight. He wanted it to be special. He wanted it to romantic. He used to take her on dates like this all the time, but tonight he needed it to go perfect. With Thea’s help he had planned to get her to take her to get pampered so he could prepare and set up what he needed to. And so that he could get ready himself. And since they lived together he didn’t want her to see how dressed up he was getting, or how nervous he was. 

He was checking the time on his phone when a text came through.

Just finished at the spa, OMG, thank you so much. I am so excited for tonight I love you – F

He decided not to respond as he knew he would break and need to see her. Need to see how she looked and he knew that if he saw her before the date he would just march her to their bedroom and they wouldn’t be leaving. Not seeing her till the last minute meant that he could maintain some control over the evening and execute his plan. 

It was 10 mins till Felicity was set to arrive at the mansion. He had planned the date to take place there. He had gotten Raisa to make a 5 course meal and had transformed the dining room into his own personal restaurant. He was so proud of himself for pulling this off, and for no one mentioning this to her. One mention and it wouldn’t have worked.

Oliver was waiting at the front door when he saw the town car pull up. He walked up to the door, and out came Felicity. She was wearing her hair pinned to one side, in soft curls. Her make up was a smoky eye and a bright red lip. But when saw the dress, he almost lost his mind. Her dress was fitted to perfection showing off her curves. It was emerald green with black lace overlay, it had a sweetheart neckline with lace cap sleeves, and the length. Oh he loved the length. It came halfway on her thigh. Why did he pick the mansion he wondered to himself. This was a bad idea. But he resisted his urges because he needed to actually have this date. 

“Hi” she said while getting out the car”

“Hi yourself. You look stunning. You are so beautiful Felicity”

“you don’t look so bad yourself there mister” 

He was wearing a grey suit with a white button down and a tie Thea had picked out. Emerald Green. Now he knew why she wanted him to wear that colour. He took her hand to steady her as she stepped out and onto the gravel driveway. He pulled her into him and placed his hands on her cheeks. He only had to bend his neck a little in order to meet her lips. She had grabbed his waist and was pulling him in tighter. He gave her a passionate kiss before pulling away. 

“So I guess you know now that the date is here” he said with a chuckle “I just wanted somewhere private and somewhere we wouldn’t be interrupted”

“oh….. what are you planning on doing to me during dinner Mr. Queen?” she laughed. 

He led her to the dining room without answering, and she stopped in the doorway. The entire dining room had been set up with strings of lights, the massive table that was normally there was gone, and in its place a small round table. There was an ice chest next to the table with a bottle of champagne, and dinner was already of on the table. 

“you think of everything don’t you? How did I get so lucky to have you fall in love me Oliver?”

“I think you mean; how did I get so lucky for you to fall in love with me?” he couldn’t help but feel cheesy, but it was the truth. He honestly didn’t know what she had seen in him all those years ago. 

“oooo so cheesy. You must be so proud of yourself for that line hey” they both laughed. 

He led her to the table and pulled out her seat. When she was seated he pushed it in for her and kissed her temple. He offered her a glass a champagne, which she refused. He was puzzled, but decided not to press any further. They chatted with each other about work, and Thea’s engagement, and about buying a better bigger home through the first 4 courses of dinner. 

Felicity was beyond happy. She couldn’t think of anything that could top the happiness she was feeling during this date with Oliver. Until desert was set in front of her. 

“Is this…”

“Chocolate soufflé” they said in unison

“Oliver, the last time you gave me this type of desert you were proposing” she said sounding anxious.

As she was talking he had gotten out of his chair and walked over to her left side. He got down on one knee. She looked over to what he was doing and she gasped, her hand shot up to her mouth and it looked like she was in shock. He grabbed her left hand in his.

“Felicity Megan Smoak, from the moment I saw you walking the halls at Starling Academy I knew that you were going to change my life. I knew that one day you were going to be mine. That one day I would be yours. When I proposed last time we promised to spend the rest of our lives together, and that as long as we were alive we would be together and we would never let the other go. We may have taken a detour but you were always in my heart. You were the reason I survived after the accident, the reason I was able to make it home. You were in my dreams every night telling me to hold on, reassuring me that one day I would make it back to you so that we could get married, and have children, and grow old together. And I did. I made it back to you, so here I am, again, asking you…..” 

“YES YES YES, I will marry you” she said excitedly

“Well technically I haven’t asked you yet” he chuckled

“Oh, right, sorry, go on” 

“Will you make me that happiest man in the world and do me the honour of being my wife?” while sliding on her tear drop emerald diamond engagement ring

“now can I say it?” she laughed “Of course I will Oliver. I love you so much. Oh, and I have something to tell you. It may not be the best time, or it may actually be the absolute best time. So you know how I wasn’t drinking tonight? Well I’m preg……”

“you’re pregnant!? Felicity that is amazing news! When did you…..”

“I found out this morning actually. Thea suspected when I didn’t drink the champagne at the spa but…..”

Oliver grabbed her up out of the chair and placed one hand on her cheek and one on her stomach. He leaned in giving her a passionate kiss. She kissed him back with just as much as he was giving her. He never thought that he would be getting engaged and finding out they were going to parents on the same night, but it was happening. He couldn’t have been happier. Now all he wanted to do was take her upstairs and make love to his fiancé. But that had to wait. Just for a little bit. He pulled out her embrace and knelt down so his face was beside her stomach. 

“Hey little one, this is your Daddy. I want you to know what an amazing woman your mommy is and that we couldn’t be happier you chose us to be your parents. I love you buddy, but now you need to sleep because daddy and mommy need some alone time”

Felicity was laughing at that last statement he had made to her stomach. But she stopped abruptly when he picked her bridal style and started walking toward the staircase. 

“Well future Mrs. Queen, are you happy?”

“Yes future Mr. Smoak, I am. I love you Oliver”

“I love you too Felicity”


	12. epilogue

5 years later

“Robert Jonas Queen, you stop hitting your sister right now” Felicity yelled through the kitchen towards the living room where Robert and his twin sister Sophia were playing when she heard Sophia crying. She didn’t even need to turn around and look or ask what was going on to know that he was hitting her. To Felicity that seemed like his favorite past time. 

She was busy in the kitchen setting up for their children’s 5th birthday the day after, and with Oliver being away at work in Gotham City for the last few days she was starting to get extremely overwhelmed at doing all of this alone but she was so grateful to have Raisa by her side, even if Raisa was only part time now. Felicity had wanted to keep a somewhat normal home for her and her family. She grew up doing chores and learned how to cook, she knew how to take care of herself and wanted to teach her children that they needed to do the same. That there may come a day when they would need it. 

Sophia was always helping around the house, normally causing more mess than there was to begin with, but Felicity was happy at how her beautiful little girl always asked to help. Robert and Sophia took after their dad in so many ways. They both had blue eyes, blonde hair and had the stubbornness of a bull, yet they were always jumping at every word Felicity would say to them. Even if it only stuck for a few minutes. She couldn’t be happier with how her life was treating her. But they did take after her in the genius column. Sure they were kids, played with toys, and had tantrums, but at the age of 4 they were already in grade 1 at Junior Starling Academy. They were even reading at a grade 3 level.

“Sophia, would you like to come help Raisa decorate the cupcakes for your party tomorrow?” she called out to the living room.

Sophia came running in, Robert following after asking if he could help as well. Their birthday party was going to be superhero themed, which she really wasn’t sure why her little girly girl of a daughter agreed to that. It could have had something to with her uncle Bruce, as it was going to be Batman themed and Superman Themed, and the children wanted everything to be set in a VS. state. So half the yard was going to have superman and the other half would be Batman. The children were so excited. 

Once the cupcakes were finished, with a few minor mishaps with the kids eating a couple it was time to get to bed. 

“But, mommy, daddy isn’t home yet. I wanted to wait for daddy to tuck me in” Sophia said while trying to push away her mother as she was tucking her in. 

“I know sweetie. He should be home soon. How about I let you and your brother read to each other for a little while and then when daddy comes home I will send him? Does that sound good?” she asked with a smile on her face

Both Robert and Sophia screamed “YES!”

“Mommy, do you think uncle Bruce will come tomorrow?” Robert asked sounding upset at the answer he may receive. 

“I don’t know honey, he has so much work to do, and you know Batman can’t always take time off” but what the children didn’t know was the he in fact was going to be there. He was flying back with Oliver that night to surprise the kids. 

“Ok mommy, I understand. BUT, if he does come, do you think he will like what we picked for our birthday?” Robert asked 

Sophia interrupted before Felicity could answer “Of course he will stupid, he is Batman of course”

“Hey, that is no way to talk to your brother. Now apologize, read to each other and as soon as dad walks in the door I will send him over. Deal?”

“yes mommy” they said in unison

Even though Oliver and Felicity’s house was massive and had 6 bedrooms, the children asked to share. They said it was a twin thing, and that they couldn’t be away from each other for long periods of time. And that when they dreamt they often dreamt of the same thing, but only if they stayed in the same room. Their parents didn’t mind it. The bedrooms were big enough to share anyways. Her kids bedroom was bigger than her first apartment. 

Oliver was set to arrive home within the hour, and she couldn’t wait to see him. He had been gone for 4 days, but it was still too long. In the 5 years since they had gotten engaged and had the children, Bruce Wayne had become Batman due to criminals terrorizing his city. Gotham was the start of many corrupt organizations coming out of the shadows. Bruce had called them one afternoon a few weeks after the first sighting of Batman, and he had told them it was him and why he was doing what he was doing. He asked for Felicity’s help in making a computer system that would help track criminals and automatically hack into any database in order to find their locations. 

Felicity had jumped at the idea, but Oliver was a little skeptical, until John Diggle, Lyla’s Husband had told them how helpful it would be. After the incident with Ray, Felicity and Lyla grew close, became best friends, and even had their children a few months apart. Oliver and John had become best friends as well and would spend their Sundays watching football games having beers while the women would go to brunch. Yes, brunch was still going on. Every Sunday all the woman would get together at one of their houses and chit chat about life, kids, and work. 

Sara and Nyssa had moved to Tibet to be closer to her Nyssa’s family after adopting a baby girl, and would visit every July and Christmas. Thea and Roy had a child of their own when the twins were 3, married just after their son Clint was born, and had moved in with Moira and Walter to the mansion. Tommy and Laurel still lived in Starling City but had a home in Gotham City as well, which they bought after the merger between Merlyn Global and Wayne Enterprises went through. About 2 months after Felicity found out she was pregnant Laurel and Tommy had another little girl, and named her Rebecca after Tommy’s mother who had been killed when he was a child. 

So even after all these years the women had a schedule, a routine. Every Sunday the women would gather at one of their homes with the children in tow, and let them play together while they would eat and drink mimosas. The men would gather at either Tommy’s or Oliver’s and watch whatever team was playing that day and have a few beers. Everyone was content in their lives and happy, but something always nagged at Oliver like he could do more. 

Oliver had stepped up as CEO of Queen Consolidated after Felicity had the babies. She had asked him to do that so she could spend more time at home. She would still go into the office from time to time to work on projects for the company, but she was happy with her choice. Moira and Walter had retired to spend more time with their grandchildren and would come over to watch them when she would go into the office. 

One afternoon while Felicity was working away at her desk in Oliver’s office he asked her about her work with Bruce. He had asked her to show him the program she had made and to explain what it did. So she did. She explained it all, explained how it was helping him put the corrupt behind bars and that he had passed it along to a few friends of his in order to help their crusade. That’s when Oliver had gotten an idea.

Oliver had learned how to be a skilled archer while he was on the island so many years ago, and he and John would practice in the training room at A.R.G.U.S once a week so he could keep up his reflexes. He had talked to John the following day about his idea, and John was ready to jump into action, but Oliver needed to tell his wife first. He thought she was going to yell and get mad at him. But instead she pulled out a laptop and handed it to him. 

She had given him a specialized laptop, her program was installed, but with one difference. If he were to click a link on the top right hand corner of the desktop it would automatically connect him to her. When she had made the program for Bruce she knew it was only a matter of time before Oliver came calling for his own. She was supportive. She remembered how he seemed helpless during the whole thing with Ray and she knew he didn’t want to ever feel like that again. So she walked him through the program, and he understood how everything worked. That evening, with the help of Bruce, Felicity, and John, The Green Arrow was born. 

For 4 years he had been the Green Arrow, and he was good at it, if not great. It was his calling. There were nights where he would come home battered a bruised and he would try to hide it from his wife, but she always knew. There were times when The Green Arrow, Spartan and Batman would join forces against the biggest criminals. And sometimes that meant having to leave home for a few days to help in Gotham City. 

But tonight he was finally coming home. She had sent Raisa home for the evening, and while cleaning the kitchen and tidying up the living room she heard the door open. She glanced over and saw Oliver. 

“Hey honey, how was your trip? Did you get the ring leader?” she asked while throwing some stuffed animals in the toy trunk off to the side

“Ya we did. Thank you again for updating the server before I left, it helped track them quicker” he said while placing a kiss on her temple. 

She wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his arms around her waist. “so the kids missed you, they are waiting for you to tuck them in. They have no idea Bruce is going to come tomorrow so don’t say anything”

“Ok I wont” he said placing a kiss on her lips “You know the other day when Sophia was talking to me, she asked me if I was the Green Arrow. She said that when I go out of town he helps Batman. I knew we had smart kids, but seriously how could she have figured it out. I told her it wasn’t me of course. But I think tonight I’m going…”

“Tell them” they said in unison. 

“Oliver I think that would be the best present they could ever ask for. Now go tell them a bedtime story of how you defeated Damian Darhk and tuck them in” 

They walked to the bedroom and as Oliver walked in the children jumped out of bed and flung themselves into his arms. He put them back into bed giving each of them a kiss on the forehead. 

“So…. I’m going to give you your birthday presents tonight” he said hesitantly. 

An excited shrill from both children rang out in the room. 

“ok, I know you can keep secrets super well, but this secret needs to stay between us ok?”

“of course daddy” Sophia exclaimed

“I wont tell a soul” said Robert who had jumped out of bed and was not sitting next to his sister on hers. 

Oliver glanced to Felicity for the courage to tell them. She smiled and nodded and approached the 3 of them. She placed a hand on his shoulder. 

“Well kids. You know how uncle Bruce is Batman?” the children nodded with excitement, sitting up even straighter on the bed, Felicity squeezing his shoulder a little tighter in the anticipation of their screams.

“I am the Green Arrow”


End file.
